Bishops, priests and penance in late Saxon England
Catherine Cubitt
This article examines the textual and manuscript evidence for practice of penance in late Saxon England. It also significance pastoral care linguistic specialized vernacular terms penance: ‘scrift’ ‘confessor’, ‘dædbote’ compounds ‘hreow’ ‘penance’ ‘remorse’. The suggests that was a regular part lay piety. evidence, on other hand, supports recent contentions penitentials were used by bishops should be linked to canon law. However, cannot properly understood unless scant survival rate humble priestly handbooks is taken into account. Moreover, this period deeply involved furthering their interests concerns not divorced from local context. In conclusion, will argue penitential practices firmly rooted Anglo-Saxon church's ministry laity.
Early Medieval Europe