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i recently attended a conference where there was some mention of the primacy of public confession in the early middle ages. can anyone explain what that means in practise? are people expected to engage in genuinely honest confession in the presence of neighbors, even of enemies? (in which case is this radically different from any form of social interaction that we know?) or is it a more formal process somewhat akin to a court system, where only the most unavoidable confessions are admitted. obviously these are two extremes. what lies in between? thank you for your thoughts, rlandes %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%