Master Durand Andree and the Sacrament of Penance as a Moment of Danger

Abstract

This chapter considers the sacrament of penance as one of the most dangerous moments Countess Delphine’s witnesses have ever faced. It describes the testimonies of several witnesses that indicated that the sacrament was a moment they believed things could go terribly wrong. It also notes the changes in the sacrament of penance in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which showed extremes presented in the writings of reformers of the Catholic Church. The chapter discusses how the witnesses’ experiences reveal the stresses of the sacrament of penance on pious people who had access to trained confessors or might even be confessors themselves. It elaborates how their testimonies show that it was difficult for them to understand the proliferation of sins and the role of penitential acts in forgiveness.