Enclosure of nuns: the decretal Periculoso and its commentators

Abstract

Boniface VIII's decretal, Periculoso (1298) prescribed new and more rigorous standards for the enclosure of religious women than the Western church had previously demanded. Earlier claustration regulations had sought to shelter religious women behind walls in order to provide them with a safe haven from the violence of the outside world. Periculoso, on the other hand, was concerned above all with isolating nuns from opportunities for sexual transgressions in order to protect their fragile virtue from overwhelming temptations to sin. Canonistic writers overwhelmingly favored a strict interpretation of this decretal. Their observations on the text reflected current fears that women were inherently passionate and lusted after sexual fulfillment even more ardently than men. Canonistic comments of Periculoso illustrate changes in gender stereotypes that were becoming current in the fourteenth century. Writers on Periculoso also reflected upon the circumstances under which the pope may empower princes and other secular rulers to enforce ecclesiastical law.

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