Clerical Continence in Twelfth-Century England and Byzantium - Property, Family, and Purity (Paperback)

Why did the medieval West condemn clerical marriage as an abomination while the Byzantine Church affirmed its sanctifying nature? This book brings together ecclesiastical, legal, social, and cultural history in order to examine how Byzantine and Western medieval ecclesiastics made sense of their different rules of clerical continence. Western ecclesiastics condemned clerical marriage for three key reasons: married clerics could alienate ecclesiastical property for the sake of their families; they could secure careers in the Church for their sons, restricting ecclesiastical positions and lands to specific families; and they could pollute the sacred by officiating after having had sex with their wives. A comparative study shows that these offending risk factors were absent in twelfth-century Byzantium: clerics below the episcopate did not have enough access to ecclesiastical resources to put the Church at financial risk; clerical dynasties were understood within a wider frame of valued friendship networks; and sex within clerical marriage was never called impure in canon law, as there was little drive to use pollution discourses to separate clergy and laity. These facts are symptomatic of a much wider difference between West and East, impinging on ideas about social order, moral authority, and reform.

General

Imprint:	Routledge
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	August 2020
First published:	2019
Authors:	Maroula Perisanidi
Dimensions:	234 x 156mm (L x W)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	194
ISBN-13:	978-0-367-58893-9
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 500 to 1500 Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > General > History of religion Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Family & relationships > General Books > History > World history > 500 to 1500 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > History of religion Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > General Promotions
LSN:	0-367-58893-5
Barcode:	9780367588939

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