Public penance, secret confession and episcopal competency (France, England, 13th–15th century)

If medieval penitential literature claims that public sin required a public penance, and occult sin a secret penance, the canonical category of «reserved cases» blurs this distinction, as much by its origin, inscribed in the evolution of solemn penance, as by its practice, between the confession of serious occult sins and the penance inflicted on criminals.