Medieval Monastic Preaching

This study presents research by specialists of monastic history, literature and spirituality. Covering the period from 1150 to 1500, this volume demonstrates that monastic preaching was not only carried out in the cloister by monks, but also in public arenas by nuns. The topics range from questioning of the sermons of Bernard of Clairvaux were ever preached, to an analysis of Hildegard of Bingen’s preaching against the Cathars. Sermons addressed to monastic communities by secular preachers are also analyzed. The diversity of monastic preaching, and a geographical range of monastic pastoral history are studied. This work offers a preliminary step in understanding how sermons and preaching shaped monastic identity in the Middle Ages.