Penance, Penitential Preaching and the Construction of Identity in the Medieval and Post-Medieval Period

Penance was a central theme to the making of European Identities from as early as Late Medieval Europe. Of central importance for many protestant scholars in the reformation era was the ability to construct methods of and historical remembrances of penance that were in opposition to medieval penance and, in consequence, to the medieval Church.  As a result of this tendency, both Reformation Protestants and modern historiography have often treated penance as a form of obtrusive social control on the part of the medieval Church tyrannizing the consciences of the laity.  Catholic scholars, from the time of the Reformation, responded to this portrayal of the medieval penitential system by defending the sacrament; like protestants, they too saw portrayals of medieval penance as central to forming their own identities.