Nicole Reinhardt
Confessors
Reinhardt, Nicole
Authors
Contributors
Erin Griffey
Editor
Abstract
Since the High Middle Ages, when individual auricular confession became a duty for all Christians, confessors were also regularly present at the court of European rulers. While in the Middle Ages their role was often associated with that of the court chaplain as head of the court clergy, their position underwent a profound change following the European Reformation, which challenged and redefined notions of kingship as well as the relationship between conscience and politics. As confessors disappeared from the entourage of rulers who embraced Protestantism, they became more prominent than ever in Catholic courts, rivalling and sometimes seconding the royal favourite whose rise occurred contemporaneously. This chapter will look comparatively at how this development shaped the understanding of the confessors’ role as members of Catholic courts, how confessors related to the court clergy on the one hand and political counsellors on the other, and how the confessors eventually became a highly controversial symbol of the Ancien Régime and ‘absolute monarchy’.
Citation
Reinhardt, N. (2022). Confessors. In E. Griffey (Ed.), Early Modern Court Culture. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429277986
Acceptance Date | Aug 13, 2021 |
---|---|
Online Publication Date | Nov 30, 2021 |
Publication Date | 2022 |
Deposit Date | Aug 25, 2021 |
Publicly Available Date | May 30, 2023 |
Publisher | Routledge |
Series Title | Early Modern Themes |
Edition | 1st ed. |
Book Title | Early Modern Court Culture |
Chapter Number | 5 |
ISBN | 9780367230203 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429277986 |
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Copyright Statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Early Modern Court Culture on 30 November 2021, available online: http://www.routledge.com/9780367230203
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