The early penitentials provide important glimpses into medieval ideas about social and spiritual affairs. Composed between the sixth and ninth centuries, these little books of penance address a wide range of human fallibility but are far more than mere tariffs of sin and penance. Instead, by anticipating various sins in multiple contexts, they reveal much about the ways their authors and, presumably, their audiences understood a variety of social phenomena. With more accurate translations of the penitentials, this book delves into the potentialities addressed in these manuals for clues about less tangible aspects of early medieval history, including: the innocence and vulnerability of young children and the relationship between speech and culpability; the links between puberty, autonomy, and moral accountability; early medieval efforts to regulate conjugal unions and sexual relationships; and discussions of sexual deviance and violence as sources of social and spiritual pollution.
