My thanks to all who have responded on this topic -- I have passed all
comments to my Italian colleague, who will, as have I in the past,
benefit from the knowledge and insight of esteemed list-members. To
summarise:
1. Our current 7 sacraments were 'fixed' by Lateran 4 (1215) after quite
some years of variation.
2. Gregory IX's Decretals (1230-ish) make mention of the sacraments at
various points, and there is no conflict with Lateran 4's canon.
3. Writing over a small number of decades from 1261, the N. Italian
judge Bono Giamboni has, in an early work, his second sacrament as
'incarnation' (Battesimo, Incarnazione, Confermazione, Corpus Domini,
Penitenzia, Olio Santo, Matrimonio). In a later work he abandons
'incarnation' and replaces it with the canonical 'ordination'.
This may be an 'oddity', but perhaps we should assume either:
a. Some people remained blasé about these things
or
b. Bono was initially referring to a pre-1215 work and later used
something more contemporary.
I had not expected 'The Answer', but we thank those who have commented
and fixed parameters. This still strikes me as an oddity, but then, I am
writing from a modern viewpoint where the seven sacraments have been
unquestioned for centuries (though with notable exceptions!).
Angus Graham, Oman
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