The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist

doi:10.1017/9781139177221.022

21 - The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist

from Clerus

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2022

Thomas M. Izbicki

Edited by

Anders Winroth and

John C. Wei

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Anders Winroth: Affiliation:
Universitetet i Oslo

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Summary

When Gratian’s Decretum took its final shape in the mid-twelfth century, one of its three major parts, the Tractatus de consecratione ecclesiae, focused on sacramental law. De consecratione, added in the second recension, reflects the theological climate of the time, when theologians defined seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, penance, the Eucharist, holy orders, matrimony, and extreme unction. Previously, the sacraments had occupied only a modest place in the canon law, with exceptions like the Decretum of Burchard of Worms and the collections ascribed to Ivo of Chartres. De consecratione was divided into five distinctions, focused on churches, the Eucharist, and baptism. The text exposed students to the concept of the Real Presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine, reflecting the theologies of the previous century and the Gregorian Reform’s critique of simony, buying and selling spiritual gifts.

Keywords

Medieval sacraments Sacramental law Canon law of sacraments Baptism Confirmation Eucharist

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of Medieval Canon Law , pp. 404 - 420

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139177221.022 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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