Some preachers, it is true, shunned certain of the rhetorical embellishments characteristically recommended in the artes predicandi.
Papers on Medieval Prosopography: Session #47 at KZOO 2015
May 29, 2015 By
Three fantastic papers on Prosopography from #KZOO2015.
Bah! Humbug! Complaining about holiday gifts 1600 years ago
December 24, 2014 By
Christmas has long been associated with gift giving, but one suspects that Asterius of Amasea would not like seeing all those presents under the Christmas tree!
Love and Marriage on the Medieval English Stage: Using the English Cycle Plays as Sources for Social History
December 3, 2014 By
Much scholarship concerning the concept of “companionate” marriage traces its origins to the early modern period as clergymen, especially Protestant ones, began to publish “guides” to the relationships and respective duties of husbands and wives in the 1500s and 1600s.
The Sincere Body: The Performance of Weeping and Emotion in Late Medieval Italian Sermons
November 30, 2014 By
In 1493 the well-known and controversial Franciscan preacher Bernardino of Feltre gave a series of Lenten sermons to the people of Pavia. On March 11 he dedicated an entire sermon to the necessity of contrition—or perfect sorrow over sin—in the rite of confession.
Conflicting expectations: Parish priests in late medieval Germany
November 2, 2014 By
The study investigates the expectations various groups in late medieval German society held of their parish priests and how these expectations were mediated through specific relationships.
The Power of Word: Preachers in Medieval Dubrovnik
September 28, 2014 By
In the pastoral of the Franciscan and Dominican orders preaching became the principal task of their mission. Preaching manuals represented the basis of the new art. The preachers also used sermon collections, Bible concordances and exempla collections.
Narratives of resistance: arguments against the mendicants in the works of Matthew Paris and William of Saint-Amour
September 8, 2014 By
The rise of the new mendicant orders, foremost the Franciscans and Dominicans, is one of the great success stories of thirteenth-century Europe. Combining apostolic poverty with sophisticated organization and university learning, they brought much needed improvements to pastoral care in the growing cities.
The Friars Preachers: The First Hundred Years of the Dominican Order
September 7, 2014 By
When Dominic of Caleruega began preaching in southern France in the early 1200s, he would have had no idea of the far reaching influence that the band of men he would attract would leave such a broad and enduring influence on medieval history.
Monastic Space and the Use of Books in Anglo-Norman England
May 21, 2014 By
My summary of a paper given at the Institute of Historical Research on: Monastic Space and the Use of Books in Anglo-Norman England.
St. Patrick’s Irish Pride
March 17, 2014 By
In honour of the day, it seems fitting to throw out some interesting facts about St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint.
Preaching and Heretics: The Medieval Public Sphere
March 8, 2014 By
To counter Habermas’ theory with regards to the medieval public sphere, we look to two scholars and their written works: David D’Avray’s The Preaching of the Friars: Sermons Diffused from Paris before 1300 and R.I. Moore’s book called The War on Heresy and an article written by him called Literacy and the Making of Heresy c. 1000 – c. 1150.
Holy War and the home front : the crusading culture of Berry, France in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries
February 8, 2014 By
Le Berry, in the geographical centre of France, developed its own “crusading culture” that both affected the ideas of the people living there and effected new institutions and traditions in that society pertaining to the crusades.
Lay Preaching and the Lollards of Norwich Diocese, 1428-1431
January 25, 2014 By
The following case-study of Lollards in Norwich diocese is in two parts. The basis for the study is a collection of records of heresy trials in the diocese of Norwich from 2 1428 to 1431.
The dissemination of visions of the otherworld in England and northern France c.1150-c.1321
January 14, 2014 By
This thesis examines the dissemination of visions of the otherworld in the long thirteenth century (c.1150-1321) by analysing the work of one enthusiast for such visions, Helinand of Froidmont, and studying the later transmission of three, contrasting accounts: the vision of the monk of Eynsham (c.1196), the vision of St. Fursa (c.656) and the vision of Gunthelm (s.xiiex).
Charisma, Medieval and Modern
January 2, 2014 By
Popularized by the mass media, Max Weber’s sociological concept of charisma now has a demotic meaning far from what Weber had in mind. Weberian charismatic leaders have followers, not fans, although, exceptionally, fans mutate into followers.
John of Freiburg and the Usury Prohibition in the Late Middle Ages: A Study in the Popularization of Medieval Canon Law
December 31, 2013 By
In this dissertation I provide an edition of the treatise on usury (De usuris, bk. 2, tit. 7) contained in the Dominican friar John of Freiburg’s (d. 1314) Summa confessorum (ca. 1298) – a comprehensive encyclopedia of pastoral care that John wrote for the benefit of his fellow friar preachers and all others charged with the cure of souls.
The Sermon of Urban II in Clermont and the Tradition of Papal Oratory
September 15, 2013 By
The speech that Pope Urban II delivered at Clermont in 1095 to launch the First Crusade is probably one of the most discussed sermons from the Middle Ages.
Lay Religion and Pastoral Care in Thirteenth Century England: the Evidence of a Group of Short Confession Manuals
July 18, 2013 By
This poses a question: where did these engaged laypeople come from, and when? There is some evidence that suggests they should be pushed back to the thirteenth century.
Teaching the Creed and Articles of Faith in England: Lateran IV to Ignorantia sacerdotum
April 14, 2013 By
The broad conclusion of this thesis is that the available evidence shows that the basic principles of Christian doctrine were available both to the lower clergy who would preach and teach the Creed and Articles of Faith and also to the laity who would receive this preaching and instruction.
Dramatic ritual and preaching in late Anglo-Saxon England
April 8, 2013 By
My thesis involves an examination of the dramatic liturgical ritual of the late Anglo-Saxon period and its relationship to other aspects of Christian worship, especially vernacular preaching.
Peter the Hermit: Straddling the boundaries of lordship, millennialism, and heresy
April 2, 2013 By
He preached Pope Urban II’s call to crusade against the Muslims of the Holy Land. He raised an army of paupers with the goal of marching from northern France to conquer Jerusalem. These hosts never reached their destination.
“The Eucharist and the Negotiation of Orthodoxy in the High Middle Ages”
November 15, 2012 By
This paper is part of Adam Hoose’s dissertation. It examined the differences between Waldensians and Franciscans in their treatment of the Eucharist. It also explored why the Waldensians were unsuccessful in their bid to become a legitimate religious order and were eventually marginalized as heretics.
The Friar and the Sultan: Francis of Assisi’s Mission to Egypt
October 24, 2012 By
In September, 1219, Francis of Assisi went to Egypt to preach to Sultan al-Malik al-Kâmil.
Martyrs on the Move: The Spread of the Cults of Thomas of Canterbury and Peter of Verona
July 22, 2012 By
No matter how one viewed Peter‟s and Thomas‟s personalities, the glaring fact of their instant and enduring cults forces the conclusion that their contemporaries all over Europe saw in them, and especially in their martyrdoms, desirable and compelling prototypes for Christian perfection. The spread and extent of these cults is the subject of this study.
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