Church penance as punishment in the 18th century in law and in practice

In the eighteenth century a number of crimes carried ecclesiastical penalties alongside civil sanctions. One such measure was penance, imposed by a church court. In 1716, for instance, the Military Statute obliged offenders to repent of idolatry, sorcery, the charming of firearms, fornication, perjury and manslaughter.

Practice, however, could differ greatly from the norms set down in law. If one turns to the Journal of the Highest Confirmations of Catherine II, it indicates that church penances were imposed chiefly for murder.

It is also known that compulsory, supervised prayer, ordered by the court, supplemented such punishments as several weeks on bread and water, deprivation of rank and of noble status, and exile to perpetual labour in Siberia

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Church penance as punishment in the 18th century in law and in practice

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