Analysis Of Charting Sexuality And Stopping Sin By Andrew Reeves

The supplemental reading, Charting Sexuality and Stopping Sin by Andrew Reeves, describes the clash between chastity encouraged through Christendom against sexual liberation with nuanced language. Reeves has several references to themes, terms, and figures from the textbook, Bennett and Bardsley, Medieval Europe: A Short History that is traced throughout the reading.

First, there are themes from Medieval Europe that are attributed to Reeves’ work. In chapter 9, Popes and the Papacy discuss the importance of the new Church rule of priestly celibacy being firmly established. This was a huge and significant shift. In the year 1000, the wives of priests were well-liked and revered members of their communities; They had simply vanished, at least

A priest's wife frequently simply became his concubine, a significant social downgrade! and in other instances, priests lived on their own and went to brothels or other places for sex. However, a real shift had taken place. In the past, clergy celibacy was always encouraged; now, it was required. Under the enthusiastic initiative of Gregory VII, clerics were solidly requested to live modestly, “with no wives and children to distract them from parochial duties or to claim the ecclesiastical property as their own” (Bennett, 172). Even though many individual priests fell short of the new standard, the new standard was firm. This is applied to Reeves’ reading when he mentions the process of confession. He states, “We encounter scattered decrees of regional councils that certain severe sins could lead to the expulsion of the believer from the company of the faithful with a gradual readmission allowed only after a set of gestures to demonstrate remorse for the sin” (210).

Sin was mentioned consistently between both readings, with Reeves’ work revealing that medieval moral theologians broke down sins based on their severity, in reference to the seven deadly sins. Since Pope Gregory the Great (reigned 590–604), these sins had been held to be the source of all other sins. Lechery, which refers to acts that violate the Church's teachings on sexuality, is a better translation of the sin that is frequently referred to as lust. Churchgoers believed that it was the most minor of the capital vices: The most terrible sin, pride, came from mutilation of the profound idea of mankind, however, indecency was a bending of a divine being given staff, the sex drive (211). In chapter 9 of Medieval Europe, despite whatever sin was committed under Gregorian Reform, Peter Damian ventured to Milan where he lowered the ecclesiastical overseer, “forcing them to confess their sins publicly and promise to change their ways” (Bennett, 172). As a result, despite its independence and friendship with the empire, the Milanese Church was forced to submit to the papacy. To repent for sinful behavior would mean that the members of the church would eventually result in following the authority of the