Kathleen G. Cushing
Search for other papers by Kathleen G. Cushing in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
The rhetoric of reform
Abstract only
Log-in for full text

This chapter explores how the clergy were rhetorically persuaded to embrace reform. In many ways, it was the issue of lay investiture that made the reformers' efforts to find a clear rhetoric of purity far simpler. It would be easy to dismiss the language of bodily purity and pollution as nothing more than a convenient rhetorical strategy on the part of ecclesiastical and especially monastic writers. Apart from Humbert of Silva-Candida, the reformers continued to insist on the integrity of the sacraments of clerics compromised by simony, their rhetoric often blurred fine theological lines. In contrast to the position of contamination stood Gregory VII who, as with simony, tended to treat clerical marriage or concubinage as an issue of obedience. Clerical marriage and concubinage likewise unleashed a torrent of polemic, chiefly focusing on the perceived contamination and confusion engendered by a cleric's sexual activities.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

All of MUP's digital content including Open Access books and journals is now available on manchesterhive.

 

Reform and papacy in the eleventh century

Spirituality and social change

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 683 382 25
Full Text Views 35 26 4
PDF Downloads 30 12 2