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- Title
Abortion and the Confessional in Counter-Reformation Italy.
- Authors
Christopoulos, John
- Abstract
What did abortion mean in late Renaissance Italy? In what ways did the reforming Church conceive of it and try to regulate its practice? This study explores attitudes toward abortion in Italy in the second half of the sixteenth century through the lens of confessional discourses and practices. In the last three decades of the century, bishops and popes attempted to eradicate the practice of abortion by imposing shaming and increasingly severe punishments for its procurers. However, such initiatives were hindered by the social and practical consequences of bringing procurers of abortion to light. The ecclesiastical establishment had to rely on the secret space of the confessional to reform this aspect of morality. Exploring the negotiations between theological pronouncements and the sociopolitical realities of ecclesiastical administration, this article draws attention to the ambiguities inherent in early modern conceptions of abortion and contends that these led to inconsistent responses among Counter-Reformation ecclesiastical authorities.
- Subjects
ITALY; ABORTION; SHAME; 16TH century Catholic Church history; CATHOLIC priests; PUNISHMENT in religion; HUMAN sexuality in the Catholic Church; CONFESSION (Christianity); RELIGION &; ethics; SIXTEENTH century; HISTORY; CATHOLIC Church; RELIGION
- Publication
Renaissance Quarterly, 2012, Vol 65, Issue 2, p443
- ISSN
0034-4338
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1086/667257