The first five years, 1507-1511, are preeminently the painting years of his life.
In the terrestrial plants it differs in the subterranean and subaerial parts, being in the former preeminently absorptive, and in the latter protectiveprovision at the same time being made for the gaseous interchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide necessary for respiration and feeding.
Preeminently he was a devout ecclesiastic, a "great priest"; and his sermons, both Anglican and Catholic, are marked by fervour and dignity, by a conviction of his own authoritative mission as preacher, and by an eloquent insistence on considerations such as warm the heart and bend the will rather than on such as force the intellect to assent.
To the years of his presbyterate and episcopate belong the great mass of homilies and commentaries, among which those On the Statues, and on Matthew, Romans and Corinthians, stand out preeminently.
This would be preeminently the case with the smaller landowners who formed the curiales, and who were in reality serfs of the fisc, for on them fell the main weight of taxation, and they were confined to their position by oppressive laws.
