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"Poor, sinning folk" : confession and conscience in Counter-Reformation Germany by W. David Myers, Ned Dykstra Hayes is a book available to read on EtoBox.

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In'Poor, Sinning Folk,'W. David Myers investigates the sixteenth-century fate of the medieval Christian sacrament of penance, the process of confessing to a priest in secret one's sins against God and other humans. In Pre-Reformation Germany, numerous layers of public ritual, expectation, and display surrounded the central secret act of confessing and conditioned its meaning. Less frequent and less private than the ritual familiar to modern Catholics, medieval penance was for most German-speaking Christians a seasonal event with social as well as spiritual ramifications for participants. Protestantism swept confession away from many German lands. Even where Catholicism survived and flourished, as in the lands comprising modern Bavaria, the sacrament of penance changed profoundly. The modern confessional booth was introduced, making the sacrament more prominent, more secure from scandal, and ultimately more private. This reform coincided with the efforts of secular rulers to fashion a more disciplined, obedient population. New religious orders, most notably the Society of Jesus in Bavaria, saw the frequent confession of lay people as a means to piety and spiritual discipline amidst

Author

W. David Myers, Ned Dykstra Hayes

Publisher

Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press

Published

1996

Language

EN

ISBN

9780801430817

Subjects

History, Religion, Philosophy

Rating

5 / 5 (1 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-24