medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
A fuller answer might have been appreciated! Let me elaborate:
Indulgences (earliest securely identifiable indulgences are from the 1030s) remitted the penalty due for confessed sins. These penalties, or "satisfaction" for the sin committed, should be completed before death in order to avoid the cleansing or purgatorial torments of the afterlife (so colorfully attested in such stories as the vision of Walchelin). Indulgences were episcopal legal actions which mercifully remitted a certain amount of the penance that had been imposed at confession, in return for a (usually) lighter "sentence" which might include monetary contributions to a great cause (a crusade, church construction, etc). Any "leftover" penance that the lighter sentence left undone was "legally" guaranteed by the Church's authority and the mercy of God (which is why it was called an "indulgence" ). Later (late 12 C) the idea of the "treasury of merit" was articulated to explain how the difference was covered.
See especially robert Shaffern's articles, also recent works by Mayke de Jong, Jessalynn Bird, Pete Brown, Alexander Murray, Megan McLoughlin.
Cheers
TGD
>>> [log in to unmask] 11/22/05 12:13 PM >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear learned ones,
I have been reading Jonathan Sumption's book on Pilgrimage, in which he deals
with indulgences, which are often paired with something called quarantines, as in
the statement of 1377 that the basilica of St Paul in Rome now carries an
indulgence of 48 years and 48 quarantines. Can anyone enlighten me as to what a
quarantine is?
Many thanks, in advance,
Jim Bugslag
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