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Social Discipline in the Reformation

Both Protestant and Catholic leaders thought it important that people understand the basics of their particular version of Christianity, and they also wanted people to lead proper, godly lives. How and why did religious and secular authorities try to shape people’s behavior?

Blasphemy: Whoever shall have blasphemed, swearing by the body or by the blood of our Lord, or in similar manner, he shall be made to kiss the earth for the first offence; for the second to pay 5 sous, and for the third 6 sous, and for the last offence be put in the pillory [a wooden frame set up in a public place, in which a person’s head and hands could be locked] for one hour.

Drunkenness: No one shall invite another to drink under penalty of 3 sous. Taverns shall be closed during the sermon, under penalty that the tavern-keeper shall pay 3 sous, and whoever may be found therein shall pay the same amount. If anyone be found intoxicated he shall pay for the first offence 3 sous and shall be remanded to the consistory; for the second offence he shall be held to pay the sum of 6 sous, and for the third 10 sous and be put in prison.

Songs and Dances: If anyone sing immoral, dissolute or outrageous songs, or dance the virollet or other dance, he shall be put in prison for three days and then sent to the consistory.

Usury: No one shall take upon interest or profit [on a loan] more than five percent, upon penalty of confiscation of the principal and of being condemned to make restitution as the case may demand.

Games: No one shall play at any dissolute game or at any game whatsoever it may be, neither for gold nor silver nor for any excessive stake, upon penalty of 5 sous and forfeiture of the stake played for.

No one should be sitting and drinking alcohol during the sermon on Sundays or other holy days, nor should anyone wander around in the street or in the chapel behind the choir during the sermon. Nor should any [wine] cellar be opened on aforesaid days before the noonday sermon is over, unless it is done for the sake of strangers and travelers who arrive and want to leave at once. Whoever breaks this rule will be punished accordingly.

All single men and unemployed manservants should at once appear at the City Hall and swear an oath to the Mayors and the Council acting on behalf of His Royal Majesty and the city of Malmø [that they will try to find a position as a servant or journeyman] or they should at once be expelled from the city. Similarly, all girls who are self-supporting should enter into service again or be expelled from the city.

Each pastor shall make in his sermons serious admonitions to parishioners that they must be diligent in sending their children to school. And let him stress the great benefit bound to come from this, schools being necessary not only for learning the liberal arts, but also the fear of God, virtue, and discipline. Where the young are neglected and kept out of school, permanent harm, both eternal and temporal, must result, as children grow up without fear and knowledge of God, like dumb beasts of the field, learning nothing about what is needed for their salvation, nor what is useful to them and their neighbors in worldly life. And the pastor shall inform them, furthermore, that school-mastering is a troublesome office and laborious, thankless work for which teachers should be honored and respected, and their hard-earned pay given to them willingly and without grudge. . . . In addition, all parents are obliged on the danger of losing their souls to teach the catechism to their children and domestic servants. Ask them also what they remember from last Sunday’s sermon, and, if they remember nothing, admonish them to pay closer attention. And if kind words don’t help, take the stick to them or give them nothing to eat and drink for supper until they have repeated something from the sermon.

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That the faithful may approach the sacraments with greater reverence and devotion of mind, the holy Council commands all bishops that not only when they themselves are about to administer them to the people, they shall first, in a manner adapted to the mental ability of those who receive them, explain their efficacy and use, but also that they shall see to it that the same is done piously and prudently by every parish priest, and in the vernacular tongue. . . . In like manner shall they explain on all festivals and solemnities during the solemnization of the Mass or the celebration of divine office, in the vernacular tongue, the divine commands and the maxims of salvation, and leaving aside useless questions, let them strive to engraft these things on the hearts of all and instruct them in the law of the Lord. . .

When therefore anyone has publicly and in the sight of many committed a crime by which there is no doubt that others have been offended and scandalized, it is proper that a penance commensurate with his guilt be publicly imposed on him, so that those whom he by his example has led to evil morals, he may bring back to an upright life by the evidence of his correction.

His majesty is informed that on past visits Gregorio Gomez and Alonso Galente, inhabitants of Dacon, Juan de Mondian and Juan Bernáldez, inhabitants of Toscana, and Gabriel de Dacon, all tavern owners, were admonished not to open the taverns nor sell wine, bread or meat to the parishioners on Sundays and holidays before High Mass. They have not wanted to comply, opening the taverns and selling wine and meat so that the parishioners quit coming to Mass in order to be there playing and drinking. Being compassionate with them he fines each one of them three reales [a very small amount] for the fabric of the church for this first time, except Alonso Galente, who is fined only one and a half reales on account of his poverty. Henceforth, they will be fined one ducat for each time that they open during the Mass.

First, gruesome cursing and blaspheming, as for instance “by God,” “by God’s Holy Cross,” “by God’s Passion, -death, -flesh, -blood, -heart, -hand, etc.,” “A Thousand Sacraments,” “thunder and hail,” “earth.” Also dreadful swearing by various fears, epidemics, and injuries. These oaths are very common among young and old, women as well as men. People cannot carry on a friendly chat, or even address their children, without the use of these words. And none of them considers it a sin to swear.

Everyone is very lax about going to church, both young and old. Many have not been seen by their pastor in a year or more. . . . Those who come to service are usually drunk. As soon as they sit down they lean their heads on their arms and sleep through the whole sermon, except that sometimes they fall off the benches, making a great clatter, or women drop their babies on the floor. . . . At times the wailing of babies is so loud the preachers cannot make himself heard in the church. And the moment that the sermon ends, everyone runs out. No one stays for the hymn, prayer, or blessing. They behave as if they were at a dance, not a divine service. . . . On Sunday afternoons, hardly ten or fifteen of the 150 householders come to catechism practice, nor do they oblige their children and servants to attend. Instead they loaf at home, or sit about gossiping.

ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Using the sources above, along with what you have learned in class and in this chapter, write a short essay that analyzes social discipline in the Reformation. How and why did religious and secular authorities try to shape people’s behavior and instill morality and piety? Were they successful?

Sources: (1) Merrick Whitcomb, ed., Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, vol. 3 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1897), no. 3, pp. 10–11; (2) Malmø standsbog 1549–1559 (Copenhagen: Selskabet for Udgivelse af Kilder til dansk Historie, 1952), p. 35. Trans. Grethe Jacobsen and Pernille Arenfeldt; (3) Gerald Strauss, Luther’s House of Learning: Indoctrination of the Young in the German Reformation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978), pp. 45–46; (4) H. J. Schroeder, Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (St. Louis: B. Herder, 1941), pp. 197–198; (5) Libro de Visitas, Santa Maria Amarante, Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Ourense, 24.1.13, fols. 9–10, 1566. Trans. Allyson Poska; (6) Strauss, Luther’s House of Learning, pp. 283–284.