Clerical casuistry of lying first appeared in the late twelfth century, although more general dis... more Clerical casuistry of lying first appeared in the late twelfth century, although more general discussions of lying dated back to patristic times. Augustine had written influentially on the ethics of lying, but tended to insist on an unbending prohibition of lying rather than exceptional cases. In the twelfth century, new compilations of Christian theology, including Abelard’s Sic et Non and Gratian’s Decretum, suggested more explicitly that lying and perjury was still an open question. Canon lawyers showed increased interest in casuistry, in the context of practical questions about mitigated guilt, and exegetes in the later twelfth century discussed the morality of biblical characters in the literal sense. All of these factors contributed to create a ferment of practical thought about lying and perjury in this period. These were distinct currents in a larger tide of applied pastoral thought, which correlated with the rise of frequent confession among lay people.
Confessors’ manuals were the most important genre in which practical thought about lying and perj... more Confessors’ manuals were the most important genre in which practical thought about lying and perjury was developed during the thirteenth century. This chapter argues that confessors’ manuals shared an interest in moral dilemmas with Peter the Chanter’s Summa. A comparison of the treatment of a famous dilemma concerning a lie to save a life in Robert of Courson, Raymond of Penafort, and Hostiensis reveals the similarities in their approach. The key difference between confessors’ manuals and the practical theologians of the late twelfth century was the degree to which they quoted material from canon law. This chapter investigates this influx of legal material into pastoral writings and explains the reasons for the change. It suggests that engagement with canon law did not mean that the ethics of lying and perjury became indistinguishable from canonical thought on the subject.
Peter the Chanter’s Summa de Sacramentis et Animae Consiliis marked a watershed in the history of... more Peter the Chanter’s Summa de Sacramentis et Animae Consiliis marked a watershed in the history of casuistry. In this work, moral dilemmas, which had previously been peripheral to medieval theology, were at the centre of ethical thought; this had implications for his thought on lying and perjury. A comparison of the Chanter’s Summa with his more popular work, the Verbum Abbreviatum, and with other theological works of the same period reveals this distinctive interest in short cases of conscience. The Chanter’s treatment of three moral topics—revelation of confession, dissimulation, and broken oaths—reveals the extent to which his interest in moral cases determined the quality of his moral reasoning. The final part of the chapter investigates the influence of the Chanter’s casuistry on his circle of students, including Robert of Courson, Thomas Chobham, and John of Kent.
Thought about lying and perjury became increasingly practical from the end of the twelfth century... more Thought about lying and perjury became increasingly practical from the end of the twelfth century in Western Europe. At this time, a distinctive way of thinking about deception and false oaths appeared, which dealt with moral dilemmas and the application of moral rules in exceptional cases. It first emerged in the schools of Paris and Bologna, most notably in the Summa de Sacramentis et Animae Consiliis of Peter the Chanter. The tradition continued in pastoral writings of the thirteenth century, the practical moral questions addressed by theologians in universities in the second half of the thirteenth century, and in the Summae de Casibus Conscientiae of the late Middle Ages. This book argues that medieval practical ethics of this sort can usefully be described as casuistry—a term for the discipline of moral theology that became famous during the Counter-Reformation. This can be seen in the medieval origins of the concept of equivocation, an idea that was explored in medieval litera...
British Library, Harley MS. 658 is a miscellany of study aids for the Bible from the early thirte... more British Library, Harley MS. 658 is a miscellany of study aids for the Bible from the early thirteenth century, bound together with a collection of scientific, poetic and theological diagrams. The texts were written by different scribes probably at separate times and places, but, apart from two texts at the back of the codex, were collected soon after by a single compiler with a clear intention. The collection is a comprehensive handbook for Biblical study, comprising of works on the literal, allegorical and moral interpretation of scripture, as well as models for reading, disputing and preaching. The nine diagrams vary in subject matter; they include a map of the city of Jerusalem, diagrams relating to the study of grammar, medicine and theology, in contrast to the Biblical and moral themes dominant in the rest of the book. Although they at first might appear incongruous, closer examination reveals that they can best be seen as appendages to two works included in the collection, Pet...
This chapter discusses early modern controversies about equivocation and mental reservation in th... more This chapter discusses early modern controversies about equivocation and mental reservation in the light of medieval intellectual history. Sixteenth-century polemics on equivocation are best explained in terms of the social and intellectual developments of that period, rather than anything inherent to the medieval discussion. The Reformation, the wars of religion in the sixteenth century, the persecution of religious minorities created an urgent new need for casuistry among Catholics who found themselves endangered. In addition the Second Scholasticism sought to make pastoral teaching relevant to political leaders of their period. Nevertheless, the combination of a stable framework of casuistical questions and changing content of moral theology that emerged in the later Middle Ages is crucial for understanding its subsequent history. The framework of ideas that were established during the medieval period was a crucial limiting factor to the later quarrels about justified equivocation.
After Peter the Chanter and Robert of Courson, there was relatively little practical moral discus... more After Peter the Chanter and Robert of Courson, there was relatively little practical moral discussions in the theology faculty until the rise of the institution known as quodlibets in the 1250s, where it was permitted to pose any question to a theology master. This chapter shows how theology masters returned to the pastoral interests of their predecessors. They revived problems on lying and oath-breaking and thereby included practical problems in the same forum as systematic theology and theoretical ecclesiology. On occasion theologians also brought greater academic and speculative depth to familiar dilemmas taken from the Decretum and pastoral manuals. More significantly, they treated problems that had previously been the preserve of law and pastoral writing as problems that should be addressed by a theology master. These new qualities played an important role in the formation of casuistry as a discipline.
Joint seminar of the German Historical Institutes in London and Washington at the GHI London, Oct... more Joint seminar of the German Historical Institutes in London and Washington at the GHI London, October 10-12, 2013. Organized by Cornelia Linde (GHI London) and Stefan Hördler (GHI Washington). Conveners: Stuart Airlie (University of Glasgow), Michael Borgolte (Humboldt University Berlin), Patrick Geary (Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton), Stefan Hördler (GHI Washington), Ruth Mazo Karras (University of Minnesota), Cornelia Linde (GHI London), Frank Rexroth (University of Göttingen), Miri Rubin (Queen Mary, University of London). Participants: Lilach Assaf (University of Konstanz), Christopher Braun (Warburg Institute, University of London), Matthew Champion (Queen Mary, University of London), Jan Clauß (University of Münster), Emily Corran (University College London), Julia Crispin (University of Münster), Étienne Doublier (University of Wuppertal), Linda Dohmen (University of Bonn), Sebastian Dümling (University of Göttingen), Dana Durkee (Durham University), Torsten Edstam ...
flurry of activity both there and in other Catalan dioceses, especially Valencia, inspired chiefl... more flurry of activity both there and in other Catalan dioceses, especially Valencia, inspired chiefly by Pedro de Albalat, the archiepiscopal author of an influential Summa septem sacramentorum, and his brother Andrés. By annual meetings were being held at Tortosa where the custom developed of assembling on Good Shepherd Sunday for a three-day gathering; likewise at Segorbe six years later. By the Osma synod was lasting for more than a week with extensive printed constitutions circulated, a development which thirty years on would afford the breviary supplied to all the diocesan clergy of Urgell an influence potentially far greater than that of the French liber sinodalis amongst its fourteenth-century peninsular readership. Now the new technology enabled questions and answers – ‘dubia et determinatio’ – to be circulated (Ager, ). There is of course much repetition in this material (this was the Middle Ages after all), with twenty-three citations from earlier synods at Lérida in , for example. The Osma case involving the substantial rehearsal of the legislation in and again in , which occupies more than five hundred printed pages here, may prompt the reflection that modern scholars might not need to have as much material inflicted upon them as the late medieval clergy. However, so much of that material has perished in Spanish archives – and can be provided here (for Tortosa and Segorbe in particular and to a lesser extent Valencia) only because it was transcribed by Jaime Villanueva well before the civil war – that perhaps we should not cavil at such provision but rather allow it to remind us that the thousands of pages now to the Synodicon’s credit continue to furnish a treasury of instances of the ever revealing tension between prescriptions for living and descriptions of life lived in the pre-Tridentine peninsula.
Clerical casuistry of lying first appeared in the late twelfth century, although more general dis... more Clerical casuistry of lying first appeared in the late twelfth century, although more general discussions of lying dated back to patristic times. Augustine had written influentially on the ethics of lying, but tended to insist on an unbending prohibition of lying rather than exceptional cases. In the twelfth century, new compilations of Christian theology, including Abelard’s Sic et Non and Gratian’s Decretum, suggested more explicitly that lying and perjury was still an open question. Canon lawyers showed increased interest in casuistry, in the context of practical questions about mitigated guilt, and exegetes in the later twelfth century discussed the morality of biblical characters in the literal sense. All of these factors contributed to create a ferment of practical thought about lying and perjury in this period. These were distinct currents in a larger tide of applied pastoral thought, which correlated with the rise of frequent confession among lay people.
Confessors’ manuals were the most important genre in which practical thought about lying and perj... more Confessors’ manuals were the most important genre in which practical thought about lying and perjury was developed during the thirteenth century. This chapter argues that confessors’ manuals shared an interest in moral dilemmas with Peter the Chanter’s Summa. A comparison of the treatment of a famous dilemma concerning a lie to save a life in Robert of Courson, Raymond of Penafort, and Hostiensis reveals the similarities in their approach. The key difference between confessors’ manuals and the practical theologians of the late twelfth century was the degree to which they quoted material from canon law. This chapter investigates this influx of legal material into pastoral writings and explains the reasons for the change. It suggests that engagement with canon law did not mean that the ethics of lying and perjury became indistinguishable from canonical thought on the subject.
Peter the Chanter’s Summa de Sacramentis et Animae Consiliis marked a watershed in the history of... more Peter the Chanter’s Summa de Sacramentis et Animae Consiliis marked a watershed in the history of casuistry. In this work, moral dilemmas, which had previously been peripheral to medieval theology, were at the centre of ethical thought; this had implications for his thought on lying and perjury. A comparison of the Chanter’s Summa with his more popular work, the Verbum Abbreviatum, and with other theological works of the same period reveals this distinctive interest in short cases of conscience. The Chanter’s treatment of three moral topics—revelation of confession, dissimulation, and broken oaths—reveals the extent to which his interest in moral cases determined the quality of his moral reasoning. The final part of the chapter investigates the influence of the Chanter’s casuistry on his circle of students, including Robert of Courson, Thomas Chobham, and John of Kent.
Thought about lying and perjury became increasingly practical from the end of the twelfth century... more Thought about lying and perjury became increasingly practical from the end of the twelfth century in Western Europe. At this time, a distinctive way of thinking about deception and false oaths appeared, which dealt with moral dilemmas and the application of moral rules in exceptional cases. It first emerged in the schools of Paris and Bologna, most notably in the Summa de Sacramentis et Animae Consiliis of Peter the Chanter. The tradition continued in pastoral writings of the thirteenth century, the practical moral questions addressed by theologians in universities in the second half of the thirteenth century, and in the Summae de Casibus Conscientiae of the late Middle Ages. This book argues that medieval practical ethics of this sort can usefully be described as casuistry—a term for the discipline of moral theology that became famous during the Counter-Reformation. This can be seen in the medieval origins of the concept of equivocation, an idea that was explored in medieval litera...
British Library, Harley MS. 658 is a miscellany of study aids for the Bible from the early thirte... more British Library, Harley MS. 658 is a miscellany of study aids for the Bible from the early thirteenth century, bound together with a collection of scientific, poetic and theological diagrams. The texts were written by different scribes probably at separate times and places, but, apart from two texts at the back of the codex, were collected soon after by a single compiler with a clear intention. The collection is a comprehensive handbook for Biblical study, comprising of works on the literal, allegorical and moral interpretation of scripture, as well as models for reading, disputing and preaching. The nine diagrams vary in subject matter; they include a map of the city of Jerusalem, diagrams relating to the study of grammar, medicine and theology, in contrast to the Biblical and moral themes dominant in the rest of the book. Although they at first might appear incongruous, closer examination reveals that they can best be seen as appendages to two works included in the collection, Pet...
This chapter discusses early modern controversies about equivocation and mental reservation in th... more This chapter discusses early modern controversies about equivocation and mental reservation in the light of medieval intellectual history. Sixteenth-century polemics on equivocation are best explained in terms of the social and intellectual developments of that period, rather than anything inherent to the medieval discussion. The Reformation, the wars of religion in the sixteenth century, the persecution of religious minorities created an urgent new need for casuistry among Catholics who found themselves endangered. In addition the Second Scholasticism sought to make pastoral teaching relevant to political leaders of their period. Nevertheless, the combination of a stable framework of casuistical questions and changing content of moral theology that emerged in the later Middle Ages is crucial for understanding its subsequent history. The framework of ideas that were established during the medieval period was a crucial limiting factor to the later quarrels about justified equivocation.
After Peter the Chanter and Robert of Courson, there was relatively little practical moral discus... more After Peter the Chanter and Robert of Courson, there was relatively little practical moral discussions in the theology faculty until the rise of the institution known as quodlibets in the 1250s, where it was permitted to pose any question to a theology master. This chapter shows how theology masters returned to the pastoral interests of their predecessors. They revived problems on lying and oath-breaking and thereby included practical problems in the same forum as systematic theology and theoretical ecclesiology. On occasion theologians also brought greater academic and speculative depth to familiar dilemmas taken from the Decretum and pastoral manuals. More significantly, they treated problems that had previously been the preserve of law and pastoral writing as problems that should be addressed by a theology master. These new qualities played an important role in the formation of casuistry as a discipline.
Joint seminar of the German Historical Institutes in London and Washington at the GHI London, Oct... more Joint seminar of the German Historical Institutes in London and Washington at the GHI London, October 10-12, 2013. Organized by Cornelia Linde (GHI London) and Stefan Hördler (GHI Washington). Conveners: Stuart Airlie (University of Glasgow), Michael Borgolte (Humboldt University Berlin), Patrick Geary (Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton), Stefan Hördler (GHI Washington), Ruth Mazo Karras (University of Minnesota), Cornelia Linde (GHI London), Frank Rexroth (University of Göttingen), Miri Rubin (Queen Mary, University of London). Participants: Lilach Assaf (University of Konstanz), Christopher Braun (Warburg Institute, University of London), Matthew Champion (Queen Mary, University of London), Jan Clauß (University of Münster), Emily Corran (University College London), Julia Crispin (University of Münster), Étienne Doublier (University of Wuppertal), Linda Dohmen (University of Bonn), Sebastian Dümling (University of Göttingen), Dana Durkee (Durham University), Torsten Edstam ...
flurry of activity both there and in other Catalan dioceses, especially Valencia, inspired chiefl... more flurry of activity both there and in other Catalan dioceses, especially Valencia, inspired chiefly by Pedro de Albalat, the archiepiscopal author of an influential Summa septem sacramentorum, and his brother Andrés. By annual meetings were being held at Tortosa where the custom developed of assembling on Good Shepherd Sunday for a three-day gathering; likewise at Segorbe six years later. By the Osma synod was lasting for more than a week with extensive printed constitutions circulated, a development which thirty years on would afford the breviary supplied to all the diocesan clergy of Urgell an influence potentially far greater than that of the French liber sinodalis amongst its fourteenth-century peninsular readership. Now the new technology enabled questions and answers – ‘dubia et determinatio’ – to be circulated (Ager, ). There is of course much repetition in this material (this was the Middle Ages after all), with twenty-three citations from earlier synods at Lérida in , for example. The Osma case involving the substantial rehearsal of the legislation in and again in , which occupies more than five hundred printed pages here, may prompt the reflection that modern scholars might not need to have as much material inflicted upon them as the late medieval clergy. However, so much of that material has perished in Spanish archives – and can be provided here (for Tortosa and Segorbe in particular and to a lesser extent Valencia) only because it was transcribed by Jaime Villanueva well before the civil war – that perhaps we should not cavil at such provision but rather allow it to remind us that the thousands of pages now to the Synodicon’s credit continue to furnish a treasury of instances of the ever revealing tension between prescriptions for living and descriptions of life lived in the pre-Tridentine peninsula.
Uploads
Papers