Sentence:  Records concerning the individual <WSD>purgations</WSD>, which tell us about the crime of the offender and the date of his release, are much more capriciously registered: four dioceses, or some eight counties, yield only fifty-four examples between 1450 and 1530; out of twenty-four registers eleven have no such entries. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The process or act of cleansing from sin or guilt.