The friars go after the rich folk. They have no time for the poor. No-one can be buried in one of their graveyards or churches unless he leaves them some money.

From Piers Ploughman, written by William Langland in about 1380

The monk was keen on hunting. His stable was full of good horses. He found the monastery rules too strict, and let things slide. He said, 'Why should I study in the cloister or work with my hands?'. Riding and hunting the hare were more in his line.

From Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, written in about 1390

William Swinderby was a priest in Leicester. He said that people should not pay tithes to wicked, lazy, or ignorant priests. The bishop was angry, and banned him from preaching in churches. So he set up a pulpit in the street. Crowds from all over flocked to hear him.

Written by Henry Knighton, a monk in Leicester, in 1390. Tithes were taxes which people had to pay to the church

The Scots soldiers had no respect for God or man. They caused ruin to the whole district. Men and women, lords and peasants, were put to death. Towns, churches, and houses were set on fire. The Scots spared no-one, not even the children. Our abbey stood right in the path of these madmen. So the local people rushed there for refuge. It is a very holy place, with more than one saint buried there. Not even the savage Scots dared to touch it.

Written by a monk called Richard, who lived at Hexham Abbey in 1138, at the time of the Scots invasion

Walter Robson: Medieval Britain; Oxford University Press, 1991/2000, page 23 f.