To Taste the Forbidden Fruit: An Exploration of Clerical Celibacy and Those who Failed to Maintain It

This presentation sets out to examine and analyze the different elements that influenced illicit clerical relationships of the High Middle Ages within the borders of modern France. While most studies of clerical celibacy have... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation sets out to examine and analyze the different elements that influenced illicit clerical relationships of the High Middle Ages within the borders of modern France. While most studies of clerical celibacy have focused on the Church’s decision to adopt such a policy, this research instead explores the other side of the conflict – those priests, monks, and nuns who failed to maintain their chastity and entered into loving, sexual, or even familial bonds despite their vows of celibacy. As such, this presentation will be organized around a set of case studies, in which I analyze a variety of primary sources including letters, inquisitorial documents, vitae, and an archiepiscopal register.