Literature and Religion in the Later Middle Ages: Philological Studies in Honor of Siegfried Wenzel
- 434 pages
- 16 hours of reading






Focusing on the late medieval scholastic sermon, this resource provides valuable insights for scholars and advanced students. It delves into the intricacies of sermon composition and delivery, making it an essential tool for those looking to incorporate scholastic sermons into their research. The expertise of the author enhances its significance in understanding this historical genre.
Exploring the connection between late medieval preaching and Middle English lyric poetry, this book delves into how sermon manuscripts preserved numerous lyrical poems and how preaching provided a platform for their creation and performance. It examines the intricate interplay between preachers and poets, highlighting the significance of this relationship in the development of early English lyricism.
The book explores the evolution of acedia, or spiritual sloth, tracing its origins from the Egyptian desert monks to its interpretations during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Through a chronological examination, it highlights the shifting emphases and transformations of the concept over time, offering insights into its historical significance and impact on spiritual practices.
Orthodox Preaching in the Age of Wyclif
Focusing on late medieval Latin sermons, this study delves into the collections of these religious texts and provides detailed inventories of the surviving sources. It offers insights into the historical context and significance of these sermons, highlighting their role in medieval society and the preservation of religious thought during that era.
Fasciculus Morum is a handbook for preachers, written in Latin in the very early fourteenth century by an English Franciscan friar. It has never been printed but is extant in twenty-eight manuscripts. The work gathers a large amount of material for preaching, including more than fifty short poems in English, and presents this material neatly arranged in the order of the seven deadly sins and their opposite remedial virtues. The book has attracted considerable interest among students of Middle English literature because of its verses, but beyond this it has proven to be of equally great interest because it furnishes a fine example of what popular preachers in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries would present to their congregations - the religious and moral doctrine as well as the biblical material, authoritative quotations, similes, fables, stories, moral exegesis, and other devices with which they enriched their sermons. It is, in other words, a summa of what an English Everyman wou