The Corrector

A bishop, a scholar, and a moral arbitrator, Burchard of Worms was a man of many roles, but it's his monumental work of church law, the Decretum, that may reveal folk beliefs about magic that persisted well into the eleventh century. This episode brings you the story of The Corrector and the folk magic of early medieval Europe.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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Music

Purple Planet - Waterside Harmony

Purple Planet - Teamwork

Purple Planet - Slow Dissolve

Purple Planet - Chimera

Purple Planet - Sense of Loss

Purple Planet - Shadowlands

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Sources

Primary

Burchard of Worms. “Selections from the Corrector and Physician of Burchard of Worms (ca. 1008-12).” In Medieval Handbooks of Penance, edited and translated by John T. McNeill and Helena M. Gamer, 321-345. New York: Columbia University Press, 1938; rev. Corinne Wieben.

Secondary

Burden, John. “Reading Burchard’s Corrector: Canon Law and Penance in the High Middle Ages.” Journal of Medieval History 46, no. 1 (2020): 77-97.

Körntgen, Ludger. “Canon Law and the Practice of Penance: Burchard of Worms’s Penitential.” Early Medieval Europe 14, no. 1 (2006): 103-117.

Lyth, Larissa de Freitas. “‘Pagan,’ a Blurred Concept: ‘Pagan’ Practices in Burchard of Worms’ Corrector Sive Medicus.” I Quaderni del MAES 22, no. 1 (2024): 43-66.