Scandal of the Church, Prison of the Soul
The Problem of Bad Custom in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Canon Law and Practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11966554 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anthony Perron (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 20-38 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0315-7997 • E-ISSN: 1939-2419 |
| Publisher | Berghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3167/hrrh.2021.470303 |
| OpenAlex | W3216200276 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
This article explores “bad custom” ( prava consuetudo ) in Latin-Christian church law of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Drawing chiefly on papal decretal letters and the statutes of local and regional synods, it discusses the theoretical debates over bad custom, how customs came to be regarded as evil, and what prava consuetudo meant in practice. While many usages were labeled “bad,” especially troubling were those that threatened clerical status by implying lay claims to authority in the church, blurring the distinction between laity and clergy, or humiliating the professed religious. The article also asks whether legal concerns over such collective behavior that brought scandal upon the church may have been provoked by a moral discourse over prava consuetudo as sinful conduct endangering the individual soul
Political science · Prison · Sociology · Soul · Statute · Theology · Historical Legal Studies and Society · Law · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |