Lying and Perjury in Confessors’ Manuals

Confessors’ manuals were the most important genre in which practical thought about lying and perjury was developed during the thirteenth century. This chapter argues that confessors’ manuals shared an interest in moral dilemmas with Peter the Chanter’s Summa. A comparison of the treatment of a famous dilemma concerning a lie to save a life in Robert of Courson, Raymond of Penafort, and Hostiensis reveals the similarities in their approach. The key difference between confessors’ manuals and the practical theologians of the late twelfth century was the degree to which they quoted material from canon law. This chapter investigates this influx of legal material into pastoral writings and explains the reasons for the change. It suggests that engagement with canon law did not mean that the ethics of lying and perjury became indistinguishable from canonical thought on the subject.