A reference to William de Saint Amour, the great opponent of the religious Orders in the University of Paris, against whom St Thomas, about the same time that he penned these chapters, wrote also his two Opuscula, Against the assailants of the worship of God and religion, Of the perfection of religious life. As long as religious lived apart in monasteries and lonely places, they encountered no rivalry and their institute was little questioned. But the Friar Preachers and the Friar Minors, coming into towns and universities, soon provoked jealousy and set men's minds questioning the whole notion of religious life. Saint Amour's invective against the Friars was entitled, Perils of the latter days. Vigilantius was a contemporary of St Jerome, who one night in the year 406 sat up and finished a Liber contra Vigilantium at a sitting.

Of God and His Creatures: 3.132