The origins of the scholastic sermon, c. 1130-c. 1210

The thesis is a study of the preaching of Pullen, Lombard, Comestor, Hilduin, Peter of Poitiers, Alan of Lille, Langton and Prevostin. It traces the development of the characteristic features of the fully formed scholastic sermon. The masters preached almost exclusively to clerical and student audiences. The delivery of what was essentially the same sermon form by the mendicants in the thirteenth century to lay and especially urban society involved, therefore, a profound change in its social and religious context. Particular attention is paid to Peter Comestor whose sermon collection was more widely disseminated than that of any other contemporary master and whose popularity as a preacher has not previously been properly appreciated. His collection is described in an appendix. Of the exegetical techniques employed in the sermon the most characteristic was 'distinction' of complementary meanings of a given word, illustrated by use of that word in different biblical contexts. It gradually came to function as the basic organising principle of the sermon. Gebuin of Troyes, though not a scholastic preacher, and Comestor were the earliest preachers to use 'distinction' in this way. The sermon consequently evolved as a thematic discussion,in a manner of thought close to that of theology, rather than as a piece of exegesis. The emphasis and imagery of the sermon's doctrinal instruction changed. The sermon became particularly associated with the new moral theology of sin and penance. Stephen Langton's preaching does not reflect a reorientation of the general religious view of man and his place in the world. A study of the preaching activity at the monastery of Saint Martial in Limoges illustrates how and to what extent scholastic preaching was disseminated beyond Paris to local religious centres in the period before the friars. Three sermons are edited as illustrative texts.