rooms. Thus the school might easily follow the teacher in his
migrations, and easily sink into obscurity or disappear upon his death
or cessation from teaching. The autobiography of Abelard (see page 14),
recounts an experience unusual in itself, but perfectly illustrative of
the point. After relating various misfortunes and persecutions he
continues:

So I betook myself to a certain wilderness previously known to
me, and there on land given to me by certain ones, with the
consent of the Bishop of the region, I constructed out of reeds
and straw a sort of oratory in the name of the Holy Trinity
where, in company with one of our clergy, I might truly chant to
the Lord: "Lo I have wandered far off, and have remained in the
wilderness."

As soon as Scholars learned this they began to gather from every
side, leaving cities and castles to dwell in the wilderness, and
in place of their spacious homes to build small tabernacles for
themselves, and in place of delicate food to live on herbs of the
fields and coarse bread, and in place of soft couches to make up
[beds of] straw and grass, and in place of tables to pile up
sods.[3]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Adapted from Joseph McCabe, _Abelard_, pp. 7, 8.]

[Footnote 2: R.L. Poole, _Illustrations from the History of Medieval
Thought_, p. 109.]