Piety and Punishment: The Lay Conforteria and Civic Justice in Sixteenth-Century Bologna
Sixteenth-century civic oligarchies concerned with law and order employed agencies such as the conforteria, an association of laymen offering spiritual assistance to condemned prisoners in the hours leading up to their execution. Conforteria manuals demonstrate the spirituality of the ars moriendi a...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
1991
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
Year: 1991, Volume: 22, Issue: 4, Pages: 679-694 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
Non-electronic |
| Summary: | Sixteenth-century civic oligarchies concerned with law and order employed agencies such as the conforteria, an association of laymen offering spiritual assistance to condemned prisoners in the hours leading up to their execution. Conforteria manuals demonstrate the spirituality of the ars moriendi and contemporary Catholic Reform, and the Bolognese manual had separate sections tailored to meet the distinct needs of "common" and of humanistically educated prisoners. Civic patricians reformed Bologna's conforteria in mid-century with new members, statutes, facilities, privileges and political priorities. While consoling the convict with the promise of heaven, comforters were to win his acquiescence to the sentence, even in cases where guilt was uncertain or punishment excessive and where execution might touch off public protest. The example of Bologna's conforteria illustrates how the renewed spirituality and charity of Catholic Reform could be used to consolidate the authority of local governments. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/2542371 |