Penitence in the Age of Reformations (St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History)

This volume comprises 13 essays exploring penitential teachings and practises from the late-15th to the early-17th centuries in Western Europe and its colonies. Together the essays reveal that, in this period, penitence was an increasingly important force shaping the individual and society. Consequently, the authors argue, penitence is central to our understanding of early modern Christianity as it was taught and experienced in everyday life. From Germany to France and to the Americas, Catholics turned to traditional forms of penitence not only to save individual souls, but also to assert their confessional identity. For their part, Protestants established distinctive penitential approaches and institutions in accordance with their own understandings of sin and salvation. The volume concludes with a postscript assessing the ways in which the essays enrich the current state of scholarship on penitence and encourage further research.