The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the attitude held by Christian moralists towards the performing or watching a spectacle on the eve of the Reformation. The sources which I will be examining are Italian texts of moral theology, in particular, manuals devoted to the sacrament of penance, dating from the mid-fifteenth century to the first quarter of the sixteenth century. My analysis appears to show: first, a lack of significant consideration od the world of spectacle as a subject of moral reflection in its own right; and, second, a tendency to legitimize more than condemn performances, by proposing a series of circumstances which are to be avoided instead of a more general prohibition.
The confessor and the theatre
ARCANGELI, Alessandro
1996-01-01
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the attitude held by Christian moralists towards the performing or watching a spectacle on the eve of the Reformation. The sources which I will be examining are Italian texts of moral theology, in particular, manuals devoted to the sacrament of penance, dating from the mid-fifteenth century to the first quarter of the sixteenth century. My analysis appears to show: first, a lack of significant consideration od the world of spectacle as a subject of moral reflection in its own right; and, second, a tendency to legitimize more than condemn performances, by proposing a series of circumstances which are to be avoided instead of a more general prohibition.
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