Editing Simony (section)

==In the Middle Ages==
Although considered a serious offense against [[canon law of the Catholic Church|canon law]], simony is thought to have become widespread in the [[Catholic Church]] during the 9th and 10th centuries.<ref>Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, edited by Wendy Doniger, 1999</ref> In the eleventh century, it was the focus of a great deal of debate.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reuter|first=Timothy|year=2001|title=Gifts And Simony|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004476400/B9789004476400_s011.xml|journal=Medieval Transformations: Texts, Power, and Gifts in Context|pages=157–168|doi=10.1163/9789004476400_011|isbn=9789004476400 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Central to this debate was the validity of simoniacal orders: that is, whether a cleric who had obtained their office through simony was validly ordained.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=West|first=Charles|year=2022|title=The Simony Crisis of the Eleventh Century and the 'Letter of Guido'|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-ecclesiastical-history/article/abs/simony-crisis-of-the-eleventh-century-and-the-letter-of-guido/C915507B2324FC0A8EF03B99475202EA|journal=The Journal of Ecclesiastical History|volume=73|issue=2|pages=229–253|doi=10.1017/S0022046921000063|s2cid=239635858}}</ref>

The {{lang|la|[[Corpus Juris Canonici]]}}, the {{lang|la|[[Decretum Gratiani|Decretum]]}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chisholm|1911|p=133}} cites Pt. ii. cause i. quest. 3</ref> and the [[Decretals of Gregory IX]]<ref>{{harvnb|Chisholm|1911|p=133}} cites Bk. v. tit. 3.</ref> all dealt with the subject. The offender, whether {{lang|la|simoniacus}} (the perpetrator of a simoniacal transaction) or {{lang|la|simoniace promotus}} (the beneficiary of a simoniacal transaction), was liable to deprivation of his benefice and deposition from orders if a [[Secular clergy|secular priest]], or to confinement in a stricter [[monastery]] if a [[Regular clergy|regular]]. No distinction seems to have been drawn between the sale of an immediate and of a reversionary interest. The innocent {{lang|la|simoniace promotus}} was, apart from dispensation, liable to the same penalties as though he were guilty.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=133}}{{clarify|date=August 2013}}

In 1494, a member of the [[Carmelites|Carmelite]] order, Adam of Genoa, was found murdered in his bed with twenty wounds after preaching against the practice of simony.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burckhardt|first1=Jacob|title=The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy|year=1878|publisher=Vienna Phaidon Press|location=University of Toronto - Robarts Library|page=[https://archive.org/details/civilizationofre00burc/page/60 60]|url=https://archive.org/details/civilizationofre00burc}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="180px">
File:Abbé pratiquant la simonie.jpg|Abbot practising simony (France, 12th century)
File:Tizian 109.jpg|Girolamo and cardinal Marco Corner investing Marco, abbot of Carrara, with his benefice, [[Titian]], {{c.|1520}}
</gallery>

===In literature===
[[File:DvinfernoPopeNicholasIII m.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|[[Dante]] speaks to [[Pope Nicholas III]], committed to the ''[[Hell|Inferno]]'' for his simony, in [[Gustave Doré]]'s 1861 [[wood engraving]] (portrait of the [[Malebolge#The Ten Bolgias|Third Bolgia]] of the Eighth Circle of Hell)]]

In the 14th century, [[Dante Alighieri]] depicted the punishment of many "clergymen, and popes and cardinals" in hell for being [[Greed|avaricious]] or miserly.<ref>''[[Inferno (Dante)#Fourth Circle (Greed)|Inferno]]'', Canto VII, line 47, Mandelbaum translation.</ref>

He also criticised certain popes and other simoniacs:<ref>''[[Inferno (Dante)#cite ref-DLS18 77-4|Inferno]]'', Canto XIX, lines 2–6, Mandelbaum translation</ref>

{{poemquote|Rapacious ones, who take the things of God,
that ought to be the brides of Righteousness,
and make them fornicate for gold and silver!
The time has come to let the trumpet sound
for you; ...}}