Penitence

Penitence is a central and contested concept in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, functioning as both a genuine spiritual practice and a tool of manipulation, fear, and social control. The novel contrasts the authentic, world-renouncing penitence of figures like the Spiritual Franciscans with the institutionalized, fear-driven penitence preached by the church and the Inquisition, ultimately suggesting that the era of true penitence has passed and that its remnants have been co-opted by power struggles and apocalyptic rhetoric.

The Cry of the Simple: "Penitenziagite"

The most visceral expression of penitence in the novel is the cry "Penitenziagite!"—a vulgarization of the Latin "Poenitentiam agite" ("Do penance"). This phrase is first uttered by the grotesque monk Salvatore, who warns Adso to "watch out for the draco who cometh in futurum to gnaw your anima!" and that "Death is super nos!" . Salvatore's speech, a Babelish mixture of languages, reveals that his call to penance is a remnant of his past among wandering preachers and heretical movements. When William of Baskerville hears the cry, he immediately connects it to the Franciscan Spirituals and the so-called "apostles," a link that terrifies Salvatore . This suggests that for the simple and uneducated, penitence was not a refined theological concept but a raw, urgent, and often terrifying summons to repentance, inextricably linked to the apocalyptic and heretical movements that swept through the countryside.

The End of an Era: William's Critique of Institutional Penitence

William of Baskerville offers a profound critique of the penitential culture of his time. He observes that he has "never heard so many calls to penitence as today, in a period when, by now, neither preachers nor bishops nor even my brothers the Spirituals are any longer capable of inspiring true repentance" . For William, the great age of penitence is over. The movements that once burned with a genuine fire of renewal—whether saint or heretic—have been replaced by a hollow, institutionalized call to penance that is discussed even by the Pope and the courts . He argues that when the epoch of true penitence ended, the need for penance became a need for death, and the church replaced the penitence of the soul with a "penitence of the imagination," a summons to supernatural visions of suffering and blood designed to keep souls from sin through fear (E00828-E00829). This fear-based penitence, he claims, is a tool to replace rebellion with fear, and it is typical of the Italian peoples to abstain from sin out of fear of a saint rather than love of Christ (E00831-E00832).

The Heretical Path: Penitence as Revolt

The novel traces the trajectory of penitence from a spiritual discipline to a revolutionary force. The story of Fra Dolcino and the Apostolic Brethren, as recounted by Ubertino of Casale and later by the cellarer Remigio, illustrates how a call to penitence could ignite a violent rebellion. Dolcino's followers, driven by a desire for a purer, more apostolic life, began by preaching "Madonna Poverty" but soon fell prey to the temptations of power, war, and violence . The cellarer, in his confession, describes his time with Dolcino as a "feast of fools, a magnificent carnival" where they felt free and believed everything they were doing was right . This path from penitence to revolt is a key theme, showing how the desire for a radical, penitential transformation of the world could lead to bloodshed and destruction. William's own reluctance to speak of Fra Dolcino stems from his inability to judge, as he was "as if ... dazed by an air of kinship that wafted over the two opposing camps, of saints who preached penitence and sinners who put it into practice, often at the expense of others" .

The Weapon of Fear: Jorge's Apocalyptic Penitence

Jorge of Burgos, the blind librarian, represents the most extreme and manipulative form of penitence. He uses the fear of the Antichrist and the torments of hell as a weapon to enforce obedience and suppress intellectual curiosity. In his sermon, he thunders about the coming of the Antichrist, describing in vivid detail the signs of the end times and the punishments that await sinners (E02670-E02686). His goal is to instill terror, to make the monks' "viscera twist in fright" and their "teeth chatter" . This is a penitence of fear, not of love, designed to keep the faithful in line and to protect the secrets of the library. William identifies this as a perversion, noting that the preachers use "distressing words, macabre threats" to stimulate piety and terror, and that they hope to keep souls from sin through fear, trusting to "replace rebellion with fear" . Jorge's penitence is a tool of control, a mirror of the inquisitorial methods that William himself rejected.

The Personal and the Political: Penitence in the Lives of the Monks

Penitence also operates on a personal level, shaping the actions and fates of individual characters. Adelmo of Otranto, driven by guilt and remorse after his illicit relationship with Berengar of Arundel, seeks confession from Jorge, who attacks him with "distressing reprimands" and perhaps refuses absolution, leading to Adelmo's suicide (E00960-E00961). Berengar, consumed by his own guilt, confesses to William that he is afraid and that a "devil is devouring my bowels" . Adso of Melk, after his encounter with the peasant girl, is overwhelmed by remorse and seeks confession from William, who absolves him but offers a surprisingly lenient view of his sin (E01691-E01694). These personal dramas show how the institutional and theological frameworks of penitence intersect with the raw, human experience of guilt, shame, and the desire for forgiveness. The novel ultimately suggests that true penitence, as a path to spiritual renewal, has been corrupted and weaponized, leaving the characters trapped in a cycle of fear, guilt, and violence, with no clear path to redemption.