LAUSR

ABSTRACTConfinement in monasteries was applied in the Iberian Peninsula in Late Antiquity and in Visigothic times both for voluntary cathartic reasons (to achieve spiritual perfection) and as a form of punishment. Penal cloistering was imposed on laymen as well as on clergymen (both regular and secular). This article surveys these punitive functions of confinement, focusing on the sixth and seventh centuries, paying particular attention to the records of Visigothic church councils in Iberia, where Visigoths, Sueves and Byzantines co-existed. It addresses the similarities and differences between Iberia and other regions such as the Byzantine empire, particularly in Italy.