General References.--There is no satisfactory history of the mediæval Church in one volume. Perhaps the best short account in English is FISHER, _History of the Christian Church_ (Charles Scribner's Sons, $3.50). MOELLER, _History of the Christian Church_, Vols. I-II (Swan Sonnenschein, $4.00 a vol.), is a dry but very reliable manual with full references to the literature of the subject. ALZOG, _Manual of Universal Church History_ (Clarke, Cincinnati, 3 vols., $10.00), is a careful presentation by a Catholic scholar. MILMAN, _History of Latin Christianity_, although rather old, is both scholarly and readable, and is to be found in most libraries. GIESELER, _Ecclesiastical History_ (5 vols., now out of print, but not difficult to obtain), is really a great collection of the most interesting extracts from the sources, with very little indeed from the author's hand. This and Moeller are invaluable to the advanced student. HATCH, _Growth of Church Institutions_ (Whittaker, $1.50), gives an admirably simple account of the most important phases of the organization of the Church. CHAPTER V THE MONKS AND THE CONVERSION OF THE GERMANS [Sidenote: Importance of the monks as a class.] 21. It would be difficult to overestimate the variety and extent of the influence that the monks exercised for centuries in Europe. The proud annals of the Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits contain many a distinguished name. The most eminent philosophers, scientists, historians, artists, poets, and statesmen may be found among their ranks. Among those whose achievements we shall study later are The Venerable Bede, Boniface, Abelard, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Fra Angelico, Savonarola, Luther, Erasmus,--all these, and many others who have been leaders in various branches of human activity, were monks. [Sidenote: Monasticism appealed to many different classes.]