Question

From the point of view of fourteenth-century Christian leaders, some expressions of popular piety were seen as threatening Church control over religious life, while others were considered to be acceptable forms of lay devotion. Match the practitioners of each form of piety with how they were judged by Church officials in Rome.

A. peasants who desired to receive both consecrated wine and bread at Mass
B. women like Julian of Norwich who lived and prayed in a small cell, or Margery Kempe who performed acts of histrionic piety
C. commoners who read Thomas à Kempis’s Imitation of Christ to discover aspects of the divine in their daily lives

1. practiced a potentially dangerous form of popular piety that Church leaders reluctantly allowed
2. practiced a completely acceptable form of popular piety
3. practiced an unacceptable form of popular piety condemned by Church leadership

Answer 1

A → 3
B → 2
C → 1

Brief explanation:
- A (peasants demanding both bread and wine) was tied to challenges to clerical control (e.g., Lollard/Hussite-type demands) and was condemned by Church authorities.
- B (anchorites and approved female mystics) represented an established, sanctioned form of lay devotion when kept within Church oversight.
- C (lay reading of devotional manuals like the Imitation) was tolerated and widespread but viewed warily by officials as potentially undermining clerical mediation of spirituality, so it was reluctantly allowed under supervision.