He has a CONSCIENCE as large as a Franciscan's sleeve

Meaning & Analysis

The proverb literally states that an individual's conscience is as spacious as the notably wide and ample sleeve of a Franciscan friar's robe.

Insights

Moral Laxity

The primary meaning is that the person has a very flexible, accommodating, and therefore weak moral compass. A 'large' conscience has ample room to excuse sins and unethical behavior, suggesting the person is unburdened by guilt.

Religious Hypocrisy

It implies a profound hypocrisy. By invoking a religious figure sworn to a life of principle, the proverb suggests the person has an outward appearance of piety that conceals a corrupt or non-existent inner sense of morality.

Shamelessness

The proverb serves as a critique of shamelessness. A large conscience is not easily pricked or activated; it can hold a multitude of wrongdoings without causing distress, indicating a person who is amoral or unprincipled.

Anti-clerical Satire

The proverb taps into historical anti-clerical sentiment, using the habit of a Franciscan friar—a symbol of religious poverty and piety—to satirize moral laxity. This reflects a common cultural trope where religious figures are ironically depicted as having flexible or compromised morals.

Symbolism of Religious Attire

The wide, capacious sleeve of the Franciscan habit serves as a powerful physical symbol for an abstract concept. It visualizes a conscience that is not strict or narrow, but rather loose, accommodating, and capable of excusing almost any transgression without being troubled.

Psychology of Hypocrisy

Psychologically, the proverb critiques the gap between outward appearance and inner reality. It suggests that a person's professed values or social role (like that of a pious friar) may mask a convenient and self-serving moral flexibility.

Cultural Metaphor Pattern

The comparison to a 'shipman's hose' in a related proverb (C599) reveals a pattern of using spacious articles of clothing as metaphors for a loose conscience, grounding the abstract idea of morality in everyday, tangible imagery.

Rhetorical Devices

Simile

The proverb is built on a direct comparison using 'as large as' to equate the abstract 'conscience' with the concrete 'sleeve'.

Irony

Deep irony arises from contrasting a symbol of religious piety (the friar's sleeve) with the concept of moral corruption (a large, permissive conscience).

Visual Imagery

The vivid, concrete image of a friar's wide sleeve makes the abstract idea of a lax conscience tangible and memorable for the listener.

consciencehypocrisymoralityironyreligionsatire

Analyzed with gemini-2.5-pro on July 26, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

— 1657, LEIGH, p. 267

His conscience is as large as the sleeve of a Cordelier Fryer.

— 1659, HOW., Fr. Prov., p. 5

— 1659, N.R., p. 50

Cross References

C599 A conscience as large as a shipman's hose.

Related Proverbs

W696 WOMEN and wine make men out of their wits 91.4%C599 A CONSCIENCE as large as a shipman's hose 90.3%W555 His WIT is in the wane 89.8%D243 The DEVIL is at home 89.7%M528 Honest MEN and knaves may possibly wear the same cloth 89.7%W474 WINE and women make men runagates 89.6%C106 To be cast at CART's ass 89.5%H523 He is blind enough who sees not through the HOLES of a sieve 89.4%V14 VALOR (A castle, A city) that parleys is near yielding 89.4%W719 WOMEN think place¹ a sweet fish 89.4%A104 Good ALE is wine's equal 89.4%C877 The CUCKOLD is the last that knows of it 89.3%W494 A great WINEBIBBER will buy no land 89.3%B11 The BACK of a herring, the poll of a tench, the side of a salmon, the belly of a wench are best 89.2%W214 Cold WEATHER and crafty knaves come out of the North 89.2%H405 HELL is paved with priests' shaven crowns and great men's headpieces 89.1%W51 When WAR begins hell opens 89.0%K77 He that eats the KING's goose shall be choked with the feathers 89.0%H443 HERESY may be easier kept out than shaken off 89.0%S942 Never was STRUMPET fair 89.0%

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