The marvels of charity wrought by the Christian ladies for two centuries were imitated in the fifth by many bishops, who had in turn become missionaries and dispensers of alms. St. Paulinus, the illustrious Bishop of Nolo, who died in 431 at the age of eighty, after having for forty years fed, clothed, and comforted the poor of his diocese, after having released the insolvent debtors from prison, ransomed the captives, and allowed himself to be sold as a slave to the barbarians in order to rescue from their hands the son of an unfortunate widow, is the most perfect type of the prelates of this remarkable epoch. Amongst his many other remarkable contributions to literature, must be cited his “Discourse on Almsgiving,” which is an eloquent exposition of his doctrine. St. Paulinus, by his teaching and his example, had formed an eminent school of disciples, amongst them Sulpicius Severus (363–420), who, in concert with some pious ladies of the Roman aristocracy, seems to have been desirous of inaugurating a new era of things in the reign of Gregory the Great. The ransom of the captives was the most urgent of the works of charity in the sixth century, for the wars and invasions of the barbarians had reduced whole populations to slavery; and so the Church devoted all its resources and efforts to this work of redemption, Pope Gregory deeming no sacrifice too great for furthering it. He was, moreover, powerfully seconded by the earnest efforts of women who constituted themselves the humble handmaids of Jesus Christ. The Empress Constantina, her sister-in-law Theodissa, St. Sopatra, and St. Damienna, all of whom were imperial princesses, sent him enormous sums from Constantinople; the Empress Leontia, Theodelinda, Queen of the Lombards, and her son Theodoaldus acted in a similar manner. As Christianity extended westward, the bright light of charity radiated in the same direction. St. Adelberga, wife of the first Christian King of England, and her daughter Bertha, wife of Ethelbert, King of Kent, were zealous in the cause of benevolence upon their conversion to the faith.