ABSTRACT
Soul talk in England has to be set in the context of the history of penitence in mainland Europe. Medieval and early modern historians alike stress the importance of the sacrament of penance for the whole culture, noting that it brought 'discipline' and 'consolation' to an anxious age. There was much to haunt sensitive consciences in the late 1540s and early 1550s, because English religious change resembled a switchback ride: hectic, unpredictable, dangerous. Revisionists have shown that reformations taking place up to Queen Mary's accession in 1553 were not easily achieved or widely popular. Soul talk was learned behaviour, with biblical and patristic precedents, imprinted by the confessional and the publication of religious literature which either used dialogue form or advised frequent 'counsel'. Catholic and Protestant alike knew the cast: the anxious soul and the wiser director(s); also, they knew the outline script: tell all, be blunt.
