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The Ermenfrid Penitential is an ordinance composed by the Bishops of Normandy following the Battle of Hastings (1066) calling for atonement to be completed by the perpetrators of violence in William the Conqueror’s invading army during the Norman Conquest of England. The date of issue is almost certainly 1070.〔Herbert E.J. Cowdrey, Bishop Ermenfrid of Sion and the Penitential Ordinance following the Battle of Hastings, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 20 (1969).〕 Papal authority was given to the document by Ermenfrid of Sion, papal legate to Pope Alexander II (1063-1073). The ordinance is split into three distinct time periods, with corresponding penances described for homicides committed at the Battle of Hastings itself, those occurring in the intermediary period between it and William’s coronation two months later on Christmas Day, and any acts of violence occurring after William was crowned. The decree issues penance on the victors alone. Unusually, there are punishments served to the motive of the soldiers alongside the physical destruction caused by the wielded of their weapons. If a soldier ‘had willed’ to kill but ‘had not actually struck a man’ then they had in effect still sinned. Additional clauses also proscribe penance for the further sins of the Conquest, chiefly adultery, rape, fornication and violation of church property. The code ends with an order that goods taken from English churches should be restored. Self-defence is however recognised by the ordinance, which states a reduced penance. Penance could by undertaken by the invading army through alms: the donation of food and money to the poor, or through the construction of new churches. There is no mention of Duke William of Normandy’s role in the public penance, and thus it has been inferred that he was exempt from these charges.〔Hilarie McCoubrey and Michael A. Meyer, Gerald Irving Anthony, Reflections on Law and Armed Conflicts: The Selected Works on the Laws of War by the late Professor Colonel G.I.A.D Draper, (The Hague, 1998) p. 31.〕 It has been suggested, however, that the decision by Duke William to build an abbey at Battle was not made until after the ordinance was imposed. Therefore, the Abbey itself may have been William’s penance for his role in the slaughter at Hastings. == Ermenfrid of Sion’s Life == Little is known about Ermenfrid’s life prior to the start of his bishopric in either 1054 or 1055 due to a lack of surviving sources from the time period. The death of his predecessor, Aimo, cannot be dated exactly and it is uncertain who promoted Ermenfrid to his office.〔 It is apparent however that he occurred his see in Sion for than 30 years, a period in which he presided over several Councils in his capacity as papal legate to Pope Alexander II (1061-1073). Sion was the northern most diocese in the province of Tarantaise, in the eleventh century Kingdom of Burgundy, occupying what is now present day Switzerland.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ermenfrid Penitential」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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