Peddlers of Paradise

This study investigates the activities of the Austin Friars in England in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries regarding the sale of expurgatory services. Through an analysis of their letters of confraternity and indulgences, this study argues that around the end of the fifteenth century, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Laferrière, Anik (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2017
In: Church history and religious culture
Year: 2017, Volume: 97, Issue: 1, Pages: 29-52
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B England / Augustiner / Indulgence / Sale / History 1400-1550
IxTheo Classification:KAF Church history 1300-1500; late Middle Ages
KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance
KBF British Isles
KCA Monasticism; religious orders
NBE Anthropology
Further subjects:B late-medieval history early-modern history monasticism Austin Friars indulgences Robert Barnes letters of confraternity Scala Coeli indulgence
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This study investigates the activities of the Austin Friars in England in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries regarding the sale of expurgatory services. Through an analysis of their letters of confraternity and indulgences, this study argues that around the end of the fifteenth century, the Austin Friars experienced a change in attitude in the sale of their religious services. They exponentially increased their efforts in selling indulgences and letters of confraternity and in advertising their popular Scala Coeli services, an attitude that reached its zenith in 1516 when Pope Leo X licensed the Austin Friars to sell and promote a lucrative plenary indulgence. This change has significant consequences for considerations of the actions of English Augustinian reformers in the sixteenth century, primarily Robert Barnes, whose criticisms of clerical wealth are put into relief when examined within this monastic context.
ISSN:1871-2428
Contains:In: Church history and religious culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/18712428-09701004