Oh, the Unfortunate Lust for Sex!

An inquiry into Ioannes Dominicus de Cleris, a sinful priest from Izola

Abstract

In 1580, the Veronese bishop Agostino Valier, in his capacity as apostolic visitor for Dalmatia and Istria, visited the Koper diocese and examined the condition of their religious objects, clergy and congregation. He found several clergymen who had breached the principle of sexual abstinence prescribed by the Church councils. Some had permanent or occasional partners; several also had children. Valier’s visitation report also includes a record of extensive hearings of witnesses pertaining to the investigation of an Izola priest, Ioannes Dominicus de Cleris. He had engaged in intercourse with two married women, thus breaching the sanctity of marriage. In addition, the husband of one of the two women caught him “in flagranti” and complained to the Bishop of Koper. The Bishop forwarded the case to the visitor’s court of arbitration. The adulterous priest was sentenced to a ten-year expulsion not only from Izola and the diocese of Koper but from the entire province of Istria.