Abstract

Robert de Sorbon’s Cum repetes — or De modo audiendi confessiones et interrogandi as it is called in the Bruges manuscript — is for the clergy what Robert’s Qui vult vere confiteriis for laymen. It is a guide for confessors, specifically addressed to those charged with the cura animarum to provide practical instruction on how to interrogate the penitent and assist him in examining his conscience. It is this subject that determines and delimits its scope. In terms of the tripartite nature of the sacrament of penance, i.e. contrition, confession and satisfaction, Cum repetes concentrates almost exclusively on the central part, confession, and on the proper method of interrogation by the confessor. A characteristic feature of Robert’s treatise is the introduction of a number of model dialogues between the confessor and the penitent, comparable to the interchanges in Robert of Flamborough’s Liber Poenitentialis, but much more incisive and inspired by great sollicitude as well as personal involvement