Sex, violence and alcohol in sixteenth-century Vilnius. Cases from the acts of the Cathedral chapter
ENIn the 16th century, the Vilnius cathedral chapter comprised six prelates, twelve ordinary canons and several supernumerary canons. It could autonomously establish its own legal norms, which laid out the principles of communal life and regulated the functioning of the clerical corporation. This was the role of the capitular statute. The norms it contained helped to maintain order and discipline among members of the chapter, and to manage its property. The capitular statute was a collection of the principles of canon law adapted to local needs. As such, its provisions had to be in accord with the law of the Catholic Church, general ecclesiastical discipline, and the edicts of the Holy Apostolic See in Rome. The ecclesiastical system of penalties was based on the principle of correction. These corrective punishments included suspension, interdiction and excommunication. Minor excommunication, which prevented the offender from accepting the sacraments, benefices and dignities, was distinguished from major excommunication, which completely excluded him from the life of the Church. If the excommunicated person were to die without obtaining absolution, he could not be buried in consecrated ground. Not to mention the jaws of Hell.
