IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 122: Earthly Humans Addressing the Unearthly Almighty

Monday 7 July 2008, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:	Nordic Centre for Medieval Studies (NCMS), Bergen, Göteborg, Helsinki, and Odense
Organiser:	Viktor Aldrin, Department of Religious Studies, Theology & Classical Philology, Göteborgs Universitet
Moderator/Chair:	Kurt Villads Jensen, Institut for Historie, Kultur & Samfundsbeskrivelse, Syddansk Universitet, Odense
Paper 122-a	Natural Man before the All-Seeing, Judging and Punishing God: Penal Law and Theology (Language: English) Bertil Nilsson, Department of Religious Studies, Theology & Classical Philology, Göteborgs Universitet Index terms: Canon Law, Ecclesiastical History, Law, Religious Life
Paper 122-b	The Use of Prayers as Protection against the Evils of Nature (Language: English) Viktor Aldrin, Department of Religious Studies, Theology & Classical Philology, Göteborgs Universitet Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Lay Piety, Mentalities, Religious Life
Paper 122-c	Competing with Indulgences Sellers?: The Confessional Letters Granted by the Apostolic Penitentiary (Language: English) Kirsi Salonen, Department of History & Philosophy, University of Tampere Index terms: Canon Law, Ecclesiastical History
Abstract	Paper-a: The paper deals with sermons from the Late Middle Ages which contain opinions about God as legislator and judge with regard to persons who had committed civil crimes. What did the preachers say about those who should be punished from a theological point of view? Which was their concept of God in such criminal cases? Paper-b: The paper concerns the issue of how prayers were used by the laity in late medieval Scandinavia. Often prayers were used, not only to communicate with God, but also to avoid fear and illness. Paper-c: The paper focuses on how indulgence letters were issued by the papal Penitentiary to be used mostly by the nobility in Scandinavia.