 In the latter half of the period in which they ruled [AD 800 onwards], the clergy were as free from family cares as even Plato could desire [for such guardians]... [Clerical] Celibacy was part of the psychological structure of the power of the clergy; for on the one hand they were unimpeded by the narrowing egoism of the family, and on the other their apparent superiority to the call of the flesh added to the awe in which lay sinners held them..." "In the latter half of the period in which they ruled, the clergy were as free from family cares as even Plato could desire".