Penitential
Encyclopedia
A penitential is a book or set of church rules concerning the Christian
sacrament
of penance
, a "new manner of reconciliation with God" that was first developed by Celt
ic monks in Ireland
in the sixth century AD.
. Absolution was granted once in a lifetime, publicly, and at set seasons of the year. The ancient praxis of penance relied on papal decrees and synods, which were translated and collected in early medieval collection. Little of those written rules, however, was retained in the later penitentials.
The earliest important penitentials were those by the Irish abbots Cummean
(c. 650) and Columbanus
and the originally Greek Archbishop of Canterbury
, Theodore of Tarsus
. Most later penitentials are based on theirs, rather than on earlier Roman texts. The number of Irish penitentials and their importance is cited as evidence of the particular strictness of the Irish spirituality of the seventh century.
s heard confession
s, a practice originally begun by monk
s to use amongst themselves as a religious cleansing ritual, they compiled unofficial handbooks that dealt with the most confessed sin
s and a wrote down set penances for those sins. Penitentials were soon compiled with the authorization of bishops who then became concerned with enforcing uniform disciplinary standards within a given district. Penitentials were by no means unofficial ecclesiastical texts.
Violent nobles were unlikely candidates for public humiliation, if that was what public penance amounted to (a questionable view). Private penance after a secretly heard confession permitted the maintenance of public status. But nobles also saw the advantage of using penance to display piety, and many turned to religious life as they neared the end of their own lives, continuing this association of spiritual discipline and social prestige.
The schedule of sins listed in the penitentials listed a certain number of years on a diet of bread and water for each sin; other penance included sexual abstinence and almsgiving. Alternately, a penitent could pay a certain number of solidi (or coins) in lieu of each year of fasting. The connection with the principles embodied in law codes, which were largely composed of schedules of wergeld or compensation, are inescapable; however, secular and ecclesiastical customs should not be regarded as automatic equivalents.
Although it is sometimes said that the penitentials took no account of the sinner's state of mind, or of the free gift of God's grace, this is a mistake; such opinions are based solely on the lists of sins (or "tariffs," as they are called) and ignore the elaborate ritual for receiving the penitent that accompanies even the very early penitentials. The priest was told to ask if the sinner before him was rich or poor; educated; ill; young or old; to ask if he or she had sinned voluntarily or involuntarily, and so forth. The spiritual and mental state of the sinner—as well as his or her social status—was fundamental to the process. Moreover, some penitentials instructed the priest to ascertain the sinner's sincerity by observing posture and tone of voice. It was not an impersonal system, therefore, but rather one that was based on differences and distinctions of many kinds.
with sinfulness and depravity. Inequities in the system of private penance existed. However, because even the earliest penitentials inquired into the sinner's state of mind and social condition, it cannot be claimed that the priest took no account of the sinner's poverty. The very poor, for example, were given different fasts from the wealthy. The commutation of penance was not restricted to money payment ("cash" is not a suitable term for medieval exchanges of wealth and should be avoided). Commutations and the intersection of ecclesiastical penance with secular law both differed from locality to locality. Nor were commutations restricted to financial payments: extreme fasts and recitation of large numbers of psalms could also commute penances; the system of commutation did not reinforce commonplace connections between poverty and sinfulness, even though it favored people of means and education over those without such advantages. But the idea that whole communities, from top to bottom, richest to poorest, submitted to the same form of ecclesiastical discipline is itself misleading. For example, meat was a rarity in the diet of the poor, with or without the imposition of ecclesiastical fasts. In addition, the system of public penance was not replaced by private penance; the penitentials themselves refer to public penitential ceremonies.
of 829 condemned the penitentials and ordered all of them to be burnt
. In practice, a penitential remained one of the few books that a country priest might have possessed. Some argue that the last penitential was composed by Alain de Lille
, in 1180. The objections of the Council of Paris concerned penitentials of uncertain authorship; by this time there were many manuscripts that attributed penitential decisions to certain authorities (e.g., the Venerable Bede) who had nothing to do with them. Penitentials continued to be written, edited, adapted, and, in England, translated into the vernacular. They served an important role in the education of priests as well as in the disciplinary and devotional practices of the laity. Penitentials did not go out of existence in the late twelfth century. For example, Robert of Flamborough wrote his Liber Poenitentialis in 1208.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
of penance
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
, a "new manner of reconciliation with God" that was first developed by Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic monks in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in the sixth century AD.
Origin
In the Early Christian Church absolution for sin was granted after a public confession and abasement; reconciliation was followed by readmission to the EucharistEucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. Absolution was granted once in a lifetime, publicly, and at set seasons of the year. The ancient praxis of penance relied on papal decrees and synods, which were translated and collected in early medieval collection. Little of those written rules, however, was retained in the later penitentials.
The earliest important penitentials were those by the Irish abbots Cummean
Penitential of Cummean
The Penitential of Cummean is an Irish penitential, presumably composed c. 650 by an Irish monk named Cummean . Of the remaining manuscript versions, notable are Codex Vat. Pal. Lat. 485, written in the ninth century in Irish-influenced Lorsch Abbey, and Codex Vat. 1349...
(c. 650) and Columbanus
Columbanus
Columbanus was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil and Bobbio , and stands as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.He spread among the...
and the originally Greek Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, Theodore of Tarsus
Theodore of Tarsus
Theodore was the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury, best known for his reform of the English Church and establishment of a school in Canterbury....
. Most later penitentials are based on theirs, rather than on earlier Roman texts. The number of Irish penitentials and their importance is cited as evidence of the particular strictness of the Irish spirituality of the seventh century.
Praxis
When priestPriest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s heard confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
s, a practice originally begun by monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s to use amongst themselves as a religious cleansing ritual, they compiled unofficial handbooks that dealt with the most confessed sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
s and a wrote down set penances for those sins. Penitentials were soon compiled with the authorization of bishops who then became concerned with enforcing uniform disciplinary standards within a given district. Penitentials were by no means unofficial ecclesiastical texts.
Violent nobles were unlikely candidates for public humiliation, if that was what public penance amounted to (a questionable view). Private penance after a secretly heard confession permitted the maintenance of public status. But nobles also saw the advantage of using penance to display piety, and many turned to religious life as they neared the end of their own lives, continuing this association of spiritual discipline and social prestige.
The schedule of sins listed in the penitentials listed a certain number of years on a diet of bread and water for each sin; other penance included sexual abstinence and almsgiving. Alternately, a penitent could pay a certain number of solidi (or coins) in lieu of each year of fasting. The connection with the principles embodied in law codes, which were largely composed of schedules of wergeld or compensation, are inescapable; however, secular and ecclesiastical customs should not be regarded as automatic equivalents.
Although it is sometimes said that the penitentials took no account of the sinner's state of mind, or of the free gift of God's grace, this is a mistake; such opinions are based solely on the lists of sins (or "tariffs," as they are called) and ignore the elaborate ritual for receiving the penitent that accompanies even the very early penitentials. The priest was told to ask if the sinner before him was rich or poor; educated; ill; young or old; to ask if he or she had sinned voluntarily or involuntarily, and so forth. The spiritual and mental state of the sinner—as well as his or her social status—was fundamental to the process. Moreover, some penitentials instructed the priest to ascertain the sinner's sincerity by observing posture and tone of voice. It was not an impersonal system, therefore, but rather one that was based on differences and distinctions of many kinds.
Commutation
Some penances could be commuted through payments or substitutions. "Recidivism was always possible, and the commutation of sentence by payment of cash perpetuated the notion that salvation could be bought" (Rouche 1987, p. 529). The system of commutations espoused in the penitentials could not reach the poorest, for whom a few solidi was a fortune and the possibility of some meat in the diet an essential source of calories. Some might want to conclude that the penitentials thus reinforced the commonplace connection of povertyPoverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
with sinfulness and depravity. Inequities in the system of private penance existed. However, because even the earliest penitentials inquired into the sinner's state of mind and social condition, it cannot be claimed that the priest took no account of the sinner's poverty. The very poor, for example, were given different fasts from the wealthy. The commutation of penance was not restricted to money payment ("cash" is not a suitable term for medieval exchanges of wealth and should be avoided). Commutations and the intersection of ecclesiastical penance with secular law both differed from locality to locality. Nor were commutations restricted to financial payments: extreme fasts and recitation of large numbers of psalms could also commute penances; the system of commutation did not reinforce commonplace connections between poverty and sinfulness, even though it favored people of means and education over those without such advantages. But the idea that whole communities, from top to bottom, richest to poorest, submitted to the same form of ecclesiastical discipline is itself misleading. For example, meat was a rarity in the diet of the poor, with or without the imposition of ecclesiastical fasts. In addition, the system of public penance was not replaced by private penance; the penitentials themselves refer to public penitential ceremonies.
Opposition
The Council of ParisEdict of Paris
The Edict of Paris of Chlothar II, the Merovingian king of the Franks, promulgated October 18 614 , is one of the most important royal instruments of the Merovingian period in Frankish history and a hallmark in the history of the development of the Frankish monarchy...
of 829 condemned the penitentials and ordered all of them to be burnt
Book burning
Book burning, biblioclasm or libricide is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded...
. In practice, a penitential remained one of the few books that a country priest might have possessed. Some argue that the last penitential was composed by Alain de Lille
Alain de Lille
Alain de Lille , French theologian and poet, was born, probably in Lille, some years before 1128.-Life:...
, in 1180. The objections of the Council of Paris concerned penitentials of uncertain authorship; by this time there were many manuscripts that attributed penitential decisions to certain authorities (e.g., the Venerable Bede) who had nothing to do with them. Penitentials continued to be written, edited, adapted, and, in England, translated into the vernacular. They served an important role in the education of priests as well as in the disciplinary and devotional practices of the laity. Penitentials did not go out of existence in the late twelfth century. For example, Robert of Flamborough wrote his Liber Poenitentialis in 1208.
Sources
- Allen J. Frantzen. The Literature of Penance in Anglo-Saxon England. 1983.
- John T. McNeill and Helena M. Gamer, trans. Medieval Handbooks of Penance. 1938, repr. 1965.
- Pierre J. Payer. Sex and the Penitentials. 1984.
- Michel Rouche, "The Early Middle Ages in the West: Sacred and Secret" in Paul Veyne, ed., A History of Private Life 1: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium (Harvard University Press) 1987, pp. 528-9.
- Catholic Encyclopedia: "Penitential Canons" "...have now only an historic interest."
External links
- The Anglo-Saxon Penitentials. A Cultural Database, by Allen J. Frantzen.