ABSTRACT
The Gregorian reform of the eleventh century and its aftermath in the twelfth made it impossible for priests to live together with women, have legitimate offspring with them, and be in the good graces of the Church. However much one might argue that the reform rarely was implemented on the parish level, it now became unacceptable for priests to form bonds with women that combined sexuality with legitimacy of offspring. In what follows here the author considers some of the emotional, spiritual and social consequences of the imposition of celibacy on the clergy. Years ago, he looked at celibacy in terms of the friendships that developed in the monastic life, while now he will especially be considering the bonds of affection that existed between clerical and monastic men and their mothers. He will be searching for good mothers, even though he will also be dealing with one or two bad ones.
