I'm not sure how many would agree with your assessment of the 16th century
as a decisive and complete break with the religious past. Surely if we are
to speak of the Orthodox Church in Russia and elsewhere we are confronted
with a startling sense of continuity, particularly when compared to the
Reformation-torn West.
Even the latter case, however, seems to me to pose some problems to your
notion of a clean break. While the Reformation may have had a profound
impact on spirituality on every social level, surely we can find some
consistency with the past. For example, John Bossy has written
convincingly of the tenacity of Catholicism in England well into the 17th
century (and some would say it held on strongly for much longer).
Brent Hardy
Department of History
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30033
[log in to unmask]
On Tue, 19 Nov 1996, Francois Quiviger wrote:
> Dear medievists,
>
> There is no such thing as studying the 16th century to realize the
> continuous influence of the Middle Ages, especially in the field of
> religion. I am currently studying the sense of smell in the 16th century
> and came accross texts which seem to imply that smell was the least
> censored or moralised of all the five senses. Furthermore, although sins
> can be commited through smell, it seems to have been the only sense
> through which one could not reach the state of mortal sin.
>
> I wonder if someone could indicate me one or several texts where I could
> find clear confirmation or refutation of these views.
>
> With many thanks in advance.
>
>
> Francois Quiviger.
>
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