Sermons on the Cross: Ideals of Sanctity and
Personal Devotion in Late Medieval Italy
Carolyn
Muessig
University
of Bristol
In her
article “Preaching the Cross: Liturgy and Crusade Propaganda,” Medieval Sermon Studies 53 (2009):
11-32, Beverly Kienzle demonstrated the importance of preaching the Cross in
the devotional world of medieval men and women. Building on Professor Kienzle’s
article, this paper will focus on sermons by Italian preachers in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries who preached expressive homilies on how the
individual could aspire to Christ-like perfection. Many of these sermons
encapsulate the interiority pursued by late medieval Italian men and women in
their endeavor to achieve the ideal of imitatio
Christi. Particular focus will be given to sermons on the Invention of the
True Cross as it was this liturgical feast that encouraged individuals to
follow as closely as possible in the divine footsteps of Christ. Although an
array of sermons and preachers will be analyzed, stress will be placed on
Dominican preaching which provides abundant examples of how the Cross was to be
the starting and ending reference point for all Christian behavior.
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