medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi Tom,
Does Cheney write about this explicitly somewhere (in which case please send bibliography!) or do you want us to browse through "Councils and Synods"?
I have been debating the same issue as Paul, though in my case I am dealing with prohibitions against "superstition" of various sorts, and/or magic and witchcraft.
Certain items - worshipping "trees, stones, and springs" - appear so often that I find myself wondering the opposite of Paul, whether they were just being copied over and over.
However, it is interesting that some Norwegian codes pick up the trio but have "waterfalls" instead of "springs". Apparently that is where the local supernaturals hung out.
As you point out, there are more prohibitions in Penitentials than legal textx, but with the same caveat - presumably penitentials are initially composed to cover the largest number of sins, and so might include some that are not locally applicable. I would think that it would be the occasional unique prohibition that would be of interest. If anyone out there is working on prohibitions against magic/witchcraft/superstition/idolatry, or knows of good compilations of primary sources (I'm aware of the basic ones, Peters and Edwards, also with Kieckhefer on magic) please let me know.
All the best to all,
Meg
Another possibility, is that the local authorities were reactions to decrees of general councils, esp. Lateran IV. But not just rubber stamping them. C. R. Cheney is good on how decrees were adapted & then recycled. If you spent a lot of time turning the pages of Mansi's Sacrorum conciliorum or of Concilia Germaniae, you find a lot of rote repetition or minor adaptation. Did these bishops and their clergy simple feel obligated to restate thelaw? A compilation like Lyndwood's Provinciale presents a more selective approach, but still on standard topics, most not concerned with topics like sodomy.
Manuals for confessors may reveal more of particilar concerns. Visitation records often show who was suspected of what offense, butthey often concerned adultery or fornication, where they get away from reporting the state of church, manse and cemetery.
Tom Izbicki