Amongst the contemporary monks, who were founders or reformers of abbeys, we need only mention the Danish Archbishop Eckel, Felix of Valois, John of Matha, the Englishman Gilbert of Sempringham, the Liége priest Lambert Begh or Lebègue, who created the Beguin convents (Figs. 255 and 256), of which there are so many in the Netherlands, and which were pious retreats where the Beguins lived in common without taking the vows. But the eminent reputation of these austere personages sinks into comparative insignificance before the touching legend of Heloisa, the unfortunate wife of Abelard, who quitted the convent of Argenteuil, near Paris, to immure herself in “the Paraclete,” a house which she had founded in Champagne, to await and receive there the mortal remains of her beloved lord. [Illustration: Fig. 257.--Carved Ivory Chaplet of Beads and Girdle of an Abbess (Sixteenth Century). Collection of M. Achille Jubinal.] Following her example, many women of equal endowments sought in mental labour and in devotional exercises an aliment for their moral activity; and, when the great St. Dominic commenced his apostleship (1170–1221), he found them ready to receive his teaching. He accordingly created, under the St. Augustine rule, in unison with the preaching brothers, afterwards called Dominicans (Fig. 258), a congregation of preaching sisters known by the same title, namely, Dominicaines. [Illustration: Fig. 258.--The most famous Members of the Dominican Order.--1. Hugh de St. Cher, Cardinal of St. Sabine, the most learned theologian of his time, who died March 19, 1263. 2. St. Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence, 1389–1459. 3. John Dominicus (the blessed), Cardinal of Ragusa, 1360–1419. 4. Pope Innocent V., born in Savoy, died June 22, 1276. 5. St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers (1170–1221). 6. Pope St. Benedict XI., born at Treviso (1240–1304).--From a Fresco of the Crucifixion, by Fra Angelico, in the Convent of St. Mark at Florence (Fifteenth Century).--From a copy belonging to M. H. Delaborde.]