The Effects of the Seven Sins: An Edition and Commentary

Abstract

The text edited here, known as the "Effects of the Seven Sins," is a collection of examples of behavior that can result from the seven deadly sins. The text stands out among the various religious works in Ruth Dean and Maureen Boulton’s comprehensive list of Anglo-Norman texts because of the twelfth-century date it is given there; if this date is correct, the “Effects of the Seven Sins” would be a rare case of an Anglo-Norman text on the sins produced prior to the Fourth Lateran Council—often seen as a turning point for such writing in England. While the investigation here casts doubt on its twelfth-century dating, the text is nevertheless valuable for being among the earliest Anglo-Norman works on the seven deadly sins.