Predicazione di routine di fine Quattrocento. Il diario di un anonimo predicatore francescano (Biblioteca Comunale di Foligno, ms. C. 85) (pp. 585-598)

Description

Sommario

The unpublished diary of an anonymous Franciscan Observant preacher, now owned by the Foligno City Library, is an account of his own experience of itinerant preaching in northern and central Italy over a period of 24 years (1484-1507). It is a unique historical document that enables us to reconstruct “routine preaching” at that time (as distinct from the activity of the more famous charismatic preachers) from the preacher’s own viewpoint. The author starts with basic information about the diary and the sermons included. It is then shown how the preacher prepared his sermons, in a process which entails the recalling, repetition and modification of the materials at hand. Finally, the article focusses on how “routine preaching” was received by both the civic and clerical authorities as well as by the people.