Battesimo e organizzazione della cura d’anime nel medioevo: spunti per una riflessione

Nonostante di solito si ritenga che i grandi cambiamenti nella pratica battesimale siano avvenuti nella tarda antichità, anche nel medioevo avvennero mutamenti di non poco conto, che portarono anche a un graduale ma radicale cambiamento nel significato identitario dei luoghi del battesimo e del rito.

Baptism and organization of pastoral care in the Middle Ages. During the high Middle Ages the right to have a baptismal font and to administer the first sacrament of Christian initiation was jealously guarded by the most important churches. Only in baptismal churches this liturgy could be celebrated and only the resident clergy had a right to collect tithes. But changes in theory and practice of this celebration favoured the transfer of the right to baptize even to the churches of small villages or of newly founded towns (the examples are taken from the current research on the diocese of Trento). Being baptized became a common condition since the first days of life and the font presence was no longer considered a privilege for the most important churches.