the young king. Religious Zeal and Church Corruption Atto was highly concerned with the welfare of the people in his diocese, both spiritual and secular. He disapproved of the use of horoscopes to direct life choices such as marriage. He did not, however, prohibit the use of astrology in his flock completely, as he said that God created stars for the use of man. As a result, he encouraged the practical application of astrology as a method of telling time, navigating, and predicting the weather, for the benefit of his people who relied upon astrological calculations for their livelihoods. He worried extensively about the corruption of his flock: in an Easter sermon, he discredited public entertainment such as plays, particularly during the weeks of Lent and Easter. He claimed public entertainment was fabricated by the infamous “demons” Liberus and Venus as a device to incite depravity. His spiritual zeal was more famously directed toward the church itself. Atto was concerned with the clergy in Northern Italy. Although he noticed pagan superstitions in his parishioners, he believed these superstitions to be the fault of the clergy, who were “clearly not particularly devoted to their priestly duties. He readily prescribed punishment for priests who were misleading or neglecting their flocks. Atto also wished to rectify the growing problem of sexuality within the priesthood. He had discovered that many clerics, who were, by the decree of the Council of Nicaea, supposed to be celibate, were fornicating with women. Such clerics often made excuses as to why they needed women around, but Atto saw through these. Although he didn’t threaten any punishment to the offending ecclesiastics, he did strongly suggest that they should stop. More likely than not, his influence was not very strong on matters that were so tied to human nature, such as this. Atto opposed several other practices within the Church. In the early Middle Ages, it was profitable for clergymen to sell holy cloth, i.e. altar furnishings or priest’s clothing, to families who wished to carry their dead to the grave with a liturgical article for the purpose of ensuring the dead a safe trip into the afterlife. Atto did not disapprove of this due to the actual ‘selling’ of holy articles, however. It was said that once restored to its original purpose, the cloth used to bear the dead would be tainted and pollute the altar and Mass it