The White Company · Chapter
How the Black Sheep Came Forth from the Fold explained
The great bell of Beaulieu Abbey summons all monks back to the cloisters for an urgent assembly.
What happens
The great bell of Beaulieu Abbey summons all monks back to the cloisters for an urgent assembly. Abbot Berghersh presides over a disciplinary hearing in which Brother Ambrose accuses the novice John of three counts. When John is sentenced to be scourged from the precincts, he violently resists, seizing a prie-dieu as a weapon, then flees the Abbey down the Lyndhurst Road.
Themes in this chapter
Faith and Morality
The chapter opens with the Abbey's rigid spiritual discipline and the Abbot's asceticism, contrasting the monks' sheltered piety with the novice John's rebellious nature.
Clash of Worlds: Monastery vs. World
John's violent resistance and flight from the Abbey represent a direct confrontation between the cloistered religious life and the untamed outer world.
Characters to notice
- Abbot Berghersh
Presides over the disciplinary hearing, a stern ascetic who has nearly crushed himself in crushing his passions.
- Hordle John
The accused novice, a huge red-headed man who resists his punishment and flees the Abbey.
- Brother Ambrose
The accuser, a pale-faced monk who brings three counts against John.
- Brother Athanasius
The sleepy old porter who catches a fleeting glimpse of John as he escapes.
- Brother Mark of the Spicarium
Mentioned as being too ill with fever to attend the summons.
Key passages
“From their pious oasis they looked dreamily out at the desert of life, a place full of stormings and strivings—comfortless, restless, and overshadowed by evil.”
The monks saw the outside world as a harsh and dangerous desert, while their monastery was a safe haven.
Highlights the contrast between the sheltered monastic life and the turbulent secular world.
“By the black rood of Waltham! if any knave among you lays a finger-end upon the edge of my gown, I will crush his skull like a filbert!”
John threatens to violently attack anyone who tries to touch him.
Shows John's fierce and defiant nature as he resists the Abbot's punishment.