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9781139029667

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'In this impressive account Rob Meens leads us carefully through the sources, demonstrating the great variety which existed in early medieval penance from its very beginnings.' Sarah Hamilton, University of Exeter 'Rob Meens unchains early medieval penance from the restrictions of the history of dogma and liturgy and puts it into a wider perspective of historical research. The book will be valued as the first synthesis of recent research, bringing together a wide range of methods and discussions from manuscript studies to the analysis of dispute settlement.' Ludger Koerntgen, Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz 'A brilliantly persuasive rethink of 'medieval' confessional practices, Rob Meens offers an expert analysis of the material forms and cultural functions of penitential literature.' Caroline Humfress, Birkbeck, University of London 'Rob Meens offers new perspectives on penance as a means of repairing a disturbed relationship with both God and society. He successfully challenges the traditional but simplistic understanding of the history of penance as an evolution from public to private practice or ritual. With an admirably nuanced and learned analysis of an exceptionally wide range of original manuscript sources, particularly the confessors' manuals produced between 600 and 1200, he demonstrates how crucial conceptions of sin and atonement were in medieval Christianity. Meens establishes how the history of penance and confession sheds light on the extraordinary diversity of Christian practice, the ritual and ethical aspects of medieval Christianity, and the perception of links between the human and the supernatural.' Rosamond McKitterick, University of Cambridge

'In this impressive account Rob Meens leads us carefully through the sources, demonstrating the great variety which existed in early medieval penance from its very beginnings.' Sarah Hamilton, University of Exeter 'Rob Meens unchains early medieval penance from the restrictions of the history of dogma and liturgy and puts it into a wider perspective of historical research. The book will be valued as the first synthesis of recent research, bringing together a wide range of methods and discussions from manuscript studies to the analysis of dispute settlement.' Ludger Korntgen, Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz 'A brilliantly persuasive rethink of 'medieval' confessional practices, Rob Meens offers an expert analysis of the material forms and cultural functions of penitential literature.' Caroline Humfress, Birkbeck, University of London 'Rob Meens offers new perspectives on penance as a means of repairing a disturbed relationship with both God and society. He successfully challenges the traditional but simplistic understanding of the history of penance as an evolution from public to private practice or ritual. With an admirably nuanced and learned analysis of an exceptionally wide range of original manuscript sources, particularly the confessors' manuals produced between 600 and 1200, he demonstrates how crucial conceptions of sin and atonement were in medieval Christianity. Meens establishes how the history of penance and confession sheds light on the extraordinary diversity of Christian practice, the ritual and ethical aspects of medieval Christianity, and the perception of links between the human and the supernatural.' Rosamond McKitterick, University of Cambridge

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Rob Meens is Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Utrecht. He has published extensively in the field of medieval religious culture with a particular emphasis on penance and his publications include The Bobbio Missal: Liturgy and Religious Culture in Merovingian Gaul (co-edited with Y. Hen, 2004) and Texts and Identities in the Early Middle Ages (with R. Corradini, 2006). He is general editor of the series 'Paenitentialia Franciae, Italiae et Hispaniae Saeculi VIII-XI' of Corpus Christianorum.

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