Occultare, differire, condonare: il non intervento dell’autorità ecclesiastica come mezzo di prevenzione dello scandalo nella dottrina canonistica tra Medioevo e prima Età moderna

For centuries, the notion of scandal played a fundamental role in the system of canon penal law. Quite often in the history of Church the reaction of ecclesiastical authorities to potentially scandalous situations consisted not in repression, but in renouncing the application of the norms in force, resorting to measures of dispensation or amnesty, or even directly using informal mechanisms of cover-up. Far from constituting an abuse carried out in violation of the law, these disparate strategies for preventing scandal have been introduced over the centuries both by pontifical legislation and by canonical doctrine (decretists and decretalists). The aim of this article is to analyse such developments from a historical perspective.