ABSTRACT
The purpose of this essay is to analyze how treaties and manuals of confession, which circulated in Portugal between the fourteenth- and early sixteenth centuries,, taught the clergymen of the kingdom, especially the confessors, how to proclaim the word of God. Starting from the role conferred to these books in fixing and enforcing rules concerning the use of the sacraments of the Church, this work tries to probe how penance confession started to be used at that time not only as an inquiring tool, but also as one of the main instruments for catechesis. More precisely, with emphasis, about such moral guidance, the text aims to highlight the role that soul shepherds needed to play in their parishes in order to be able to pass to the lay faithful warnings and pieces of advice prepared by bishops, and other cultivated clergymen in that period.
Keywords:
Portugal; penance confession; purge of sins; treaties of confession; confessors.