Complex sentence: He moved on to the Abbey of Staad, a small church which had been torched by English authority and its friars driven into hiding: he saw 12 of his countrymen hanging from nooses tied to iron bars of the windows within the church ruins.
Split into simpler sentences: He moved on to the Abbey of Staad, a small church which had been torched by the English after its friars had fled. He saw twelve of his countrymen hanging from nooses tied to iron bars of the windows within the church ruins.