
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Conscience, 400–1500 Conscience, 400–1500
-
My conscience / your conscience My conscience / your conscience
-
A ‘Reformation’ conscience? A ‘Reformation’ conscience?
-
Too long in the body Too long in the body
-
Further Reading Further Reading
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
12 Conscience
Get accessPaul Strohm is series editor of the Oxford Twenty-First Century Approaches to Literature series. He teaches medieval literature and humanities at Columbia University. His most recent book is Politique: Languages of Statecraft between Chaucer and Shakespeare. He is currently thinking and writing about the vicissitudes of 'conscience', across the medieval-early modern divide.
-
Published:12 November 2015
Cite
Abstract
This article considers a Christian view of conscience starting with St. Augustine’s personal crisis in his Confessions. Augustine’s conscience sits at the margins of the self, balanced between interior and exterior. A new emphasis emerges in Protestant views of conscience, including Martin Luther’s emphasis on conscientia mea in his writings and his understanding of conscience. A Reformation view of personal conscience is illustrated in Henry VIII’s frequent references to “my conscience,” and other instances. The clash of personal and collective views of conscience underlies the views of sixteenth-century judge James Hales and Marian chancellor Stephen Gardiner. The evangelically leaning Hales sees conscience as a private matter, a personal secret, unknowable to any other person. In contrast, Gardiner, a Catholic, insists that conscience is a recognizable and unproblematic entity with evident properties that make it easily identifiable.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
October 2022 | 1 |
January 2023 | 5 |
April 2023 | 1 |
May 2023 | 3 |
June 2023 | 1 |
October 2023 | 2 |
December 2023 | 2 |
February 2024 | 2 |
May 2024 | 1 |
June 2024 | 2 |
August 2024 | 3 |
September 2024 | 2 |
October 2024 | 4 |
February 2025 | 3 |
March 2025 | 2 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.