Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/103

87 CHAPTER VI THE DARK PERIOD IN NURSING THE currents of popular feeling which brought about the Protestant insurgent movements of the sixteenth century had more than one source. Among the labouring masses there was deep resentment against serfdom and T 11 1-1. . Movements oppression. Intellectual circles criti- leading up to cized and ridiculed the doctrinal absurd- Protes- . . r,. . . tant revolt ities of extreme ecclesiasticism, while in deeply religious hearts there was a longing to return to a simpler faith and more sincere observance of religious ceremonials. From the economic standpoint especially, the dominant church in its then large temporal power had be- come generally oppressive. Its exactions were felt alike by king and peasant. The ground gained by Protestantism in that period brought to a climax influences that had been previously at work weakening the monastic system, and the changes resulting from the decline of monasticism had a 87