288 BuoniCattolici
in our period reveals just this kind of conscience keeping. There, on the
blank verso of the last folio, the owner has jotted down vices and virtues.
After each, he placed stroke marks, counting his temptations and good inten-
tions.^106 Compiling lists of sins was a practice of the nervous and hyperde-
vout, but all believers were supposed to know how to make a ‘‘good
confession.’’ Bonvesin de la Riva explained what was expected of the peni-
tent in the discipline of confession.
Confess your sins often to a priest; condemn yourself, that the
judge’s anger may cease. Consider what you will say to him when
you come with complete and heartfelt contrition. Come, meekly,
as an offender, ask God’s forgiveness with sorrowful heart. Bow,
uncovering your head, but if he so commands, cover it again, lest
you lose face. Sit not on a bench if your sins are evident, lest humili-
ated you find the earth is your grave. When you confess your sins to
him, the priest is no man, but God. Speaking in circles as you show
your sins besmirches your revelation with another fault. The more
horrible the crime, the more need to express it; making it known
cures it, hiding it compounds it. The demon harms those who hide
things from the priest out of shame. Whenever you feel weighed
down by sin, confess right away. A wise man avoids danger carefully,
otherwise sudden death awaits. When you have confessed your sins
to the priest, fulfill his commands, taking care not to return again to
your vomit.^107Three aspects of a good confession are paramount in this rhetorical exercise:
humility, complete disclosure, and the intention not to sin again. The rheto-
rician encapsulated nicely the teaching of the preachers and theologians. By
the 1300 s, the qualities of a good confession had become stereotyped. Many
devotional collections from that period contained versions of this verse:
Let confession be simple, humble, pure, faithful, and true,
- Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana,msE 15 Sup., fol. 84 v.
- Bonvesin de la Riva,Vita Scholastica, 68 – 70 : ‘‘Sepe sacerdoti proprios fateare reatus, ipsum te
damna, iudicis ira cadet. Ad quem cum vadis contritus pectore toto, que dicturus eris, premeditatus eas.
Vade, Deum, tamquam timidus, reverenter ad illum, offensor veniam corde dolente petas. Flectaris,
dempto capitis velamine, sed si precipiat, retegas, ne paciare caput. Non equidem banco sedeas tua
crimina pandens, ast humili pocius sit tibi terra quies. Non homo, sed Deus est hoc casu quisque sacerdos,
crimina secure confitearis ei. Ambages linguas, tantum tua crimina pandas, alterius culpe pandere facta
nocet. Quo scelus horridius, plus est fateare necesse, visa medens curat, vulnera tecta nocent. Ne sis,
quem necuit demon, qui cetera fassus presbytero tacuit turpe rubore scelus. Quam cito peccati sentis
gravitate gravari, tucior ut vivas, confitear citus. Est sapientis enim vitare pericula caute, nam multos
subita morte perisse patet. Presbyteri post hec confessus perfice iussa, ad vomitum rursus velle redire
cave.’’ His recommendations were especially tailored for students: warning against sodomy (ibid., 49 – 51 ),
prostitutes ( 48 – 49 ), overeating and drinking ( 50 , 52 ), and bad company ( 58 ); but mostly ( 72 – 102 ) he dealt
with problems of student life.