Penitential preacher
Penitential preachers were Christian preachers between the 12th and 16th centuries whose message consisted mainly or exclusively of making people aware of their sinfulness and God's anger by means of drastic fantasies about the end of the world . They proclaimed the imminent judgment of God to those who did not repent and demanded public confessions and repentance from all believers .
Biblical origin
In the Old Testament , some prophets warned against sin and called for repentance. According to the New Testament, Jesus Christ and his apostles admonished and encouraged people to turn away from sin and to turn to God. The penitential preachers of the Middle Ages , the subsequent ages and the modern age liked to fall back on these methodical warnings and threats in order to then promise salvation for the desired conversion .
Old testament
The prophet Isaiah warned against unbelief and unfaithfulness ( Isa 8,5-23 EU ). In his “ exhortation to repent and trust in God's word” he called on people not to “return empty” and promised them: “Instead of thorns, cypresses will grow , instead of nettles myrtles. ”( Isa 55,6-13 EU ). Also in the “promise of human salvation” he says: “Have courage and do not be afraid!” ( Isa 35,4 EU )
In the temple discourse described by the prophet Jeremiah ( Jer 26 : 1–19 EU ), he writes what the Lord said:
“If you do not listen to my word and do not follow my instruction, which I have given you, if you do not listen to the words of my servants and prophets, which I keep sending to you even though you do not listen, then I will deal with this one House as with the Shiloh and make this city a curse with all peoples of the earth "
New Testament
John the Baptist ( Mt 3 : 1–12 EU ); ( Mk 1,1-8 EU ); ( Lk 3,1–20 EU ) and ( Joh 1,7–36 EU ) was a prophet who urged repentance and is apostrophized in the New Testament as a “penitential preacher in the desert”. He combined his demands for penance and the forgiveness of sins with baptism . For Christians, baptism was equated with Jesus, to whose birth John referred to in the Gospels.
In Luke's Acts of the Apostles , Peter appears as a penitential preacher with a speech on the temple square and calls for conversion and repentance ( Acts 3:19 EU ). He was followed as penitential preacher in writing by the apostle Paul with his letters, first to the Romans ( Rom 1.18-32 EU ), which he entitled "Sin and Forlornness" and wrote about "God's wrath against the injustice of men". In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul addressed the people with various admonitions and set out his demands from “old and new people” ( Eph 4: 17–24 EU ). He repeated these words of warning to the baptized in the letter to the Colossians , he then continued to write about the Christian house rules and finally addressed a warning to everyone ( Col 3–4 EU ). In the letter to the Hebrews ( Heb 10,19-39 EU ) Paul again took up the path of faith, he warned against apostasy and urged perseverance.
Penitential preacher in the Middle Ages
In the middle of the 13th century penitential brotherhoods such as the Apostle Brothers (Apostolics) were founded, who later succumbed to cruel persecution. In particular, Gerhard Segarelli (1240-1300) stepped out of Parma , who was burned in 1300 for his rigorous criticism of the clergy and the church . At the same time the people were confronted with flagellant parades , also known as flagellants, threatening the imminent end of the world.
Public appearance
The penitential preachers mostly appeared on behalf of the public and could refer to papal , episcopal and princely powers. Some preachers were also called by the city magistrate . With this license, they worked on ecclesiastical and political areas and preached against luxury , gambling , usury and devout believers. Behind their sermons there was always a moral or moral authority, without which the preacher's appearance and success would have been unthinkable. The greater and more extensive their success, the further they distanced themselves from the ideal of their role models and demands. The penitential sermons sometimes dragged on for weeks and, with their recurring threats and warnings, led to the desired success.
Content goals
The content of the penitential sermons was geared towards the long and great power of the church and the threat to Christianity . This generated great interest from the audience and increased the number of visitors. Of course, disasters and upheavals that caused fear among people also played a significant role. Diseases and epidemics did the rest and led to fear of survival and horror in the aristocracy . Eternal condemnation and purgatory were considered threats, but they could be countered with correspondingly high indulgences . These typical characteristics of the exhortation usually ranged from the threat to the encouragement to bring salvation.
The sermons of the penitential preachers should also prepare people for Lent, encourage them to pilgrimage, or incite them to go on crusades . They were also held for specific purposes such as church building, bridge building, or collections. The focus was always on the cultivation of fear as well as threats and warnings in order to promote the willingness of the believers. Penitential sermons have been handed down in many cases and mostly recorded in Latin, the penitential sermons of Berthold von Regensburg are also handed down as transcripts and offer, for example, sources of cultural history and folklore.
Abuse, indulgences, and resistance
Indulgence was an important means of pressure that led to success. Not only did the preachers put profits into their own pockets, but they also bought a “longer life” for themselves and the clergy.
Many believers were driven into the arms of self-proclaimed penitential preachers such as Hans Böhm (1458–1476), who was nicknamed "Pauker von Niklashausen". He appeared in Franconia in 1476 and threatened a gruesome judgment and proclaimed a “new kingdom of God on earth” to the people. He was burned at the stake as a heretic in Würzburg in 1476 .
The official church needed money, especially the curia was addicted to money and domination and demanded more and more indulgences. The most important source of income was the sale of letters of indulgence : the trade in acquittals of the punishments of sin that angered Martin Luther (1483–1546) so much that he wrote his 95 theses .
Well-known penitential preachers
In addition to the self-proclaimed penitential preachers, serious penitential preachers with real motivation also appeared. Here are a few:
Anthony of Padua
Berthold of Regensburg
Vincent Ferrer
Girolamo Savonarola
Johann Geiler from Kaysersberg
Vincent de Paul
Abraham a Sancta Clara
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- Noker von Zwiefalten (1065-1090) was a Benedictine , poet and abbot of the Zwiefalten monastery . In the manner of a penitential sermon, Noker exhorts his fellow men to think about death , he warned against hell and asked God to show mercy on the "evil" world.
- Anthony of Padua (1195–1231) was a Portuguese-Italian Franciscan , theologian, and preacher. In 1221 he met his brother in faith Francis of Assisi , and his gift for speech led him to speak to the Albigensians and Waldensians in Italy and to the Cathars in southern France , who paid homage to a poverty movement that was not in line with the church
- Berthold von Regensburg (around 1210–1272) was a Franciscan and worked as a penitential preacher, but also as a preacher against heretics and the persecution of Jews .
- Heinrich von Melk (12th century) was a lay brother and penitential preacher in the Melk monastery on the Danube . In his penitential sermons-like poems (around 1160) he paints a drastic picture of the transience of everything earthly and of the depravity and sinfulness of all classes. He passionately condemns the viciousness of the world and calls for conversion and penance.
- Vinzenz Ferrer (1350-1419) was a Dominican, teacher of philosophy and theology and a great penitential preacher. He stood on the side of Popes Clement VII and Benedict XIII. From 1399 to 1409 he traveled as a penitential preacher through Spain , southern France , Switzerland and northern Italy . In 1414 he moved from the antipope Benedict XIII. and worked for the unity of the church.
- Johannes Capistranus (1386-1456) was an itinerant preacher, military leader , inquisitor and persecutor of the Jews . He is the patron saint of lawyers .
- Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg (1445–1510) was considered the most important German preacher of the late Middle Ages. He preached in clear and simple language and filled the cathedral of Strasbourg with hours of penitential sermons. It is said of him: "In his coarse and humorous sermons, Geiler sharply criticizes the state of the Church, the secularization of the clergy, and calls for reforms."
- Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) was a Dominican and penitential preacher. He caused a stir with his criticism of the lifestyle of the ruling nobility and clergy and was one of the forerunners of the Reformation . He was taken to the scaffold in 1498 .
- Vincent von Paul (1581-1660) was a priest and is considered the founder of modern Caritas.
- Abraham a Sancta Clara (1644–1709) was a Catholic clergyman, preacher, and writer . With around 600 individual writings, he is considered the most important German Catholic preacher.
Penitential preacher in art and literature (a selection)
- Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel (1736–1809) was a German writer, military scientist and educator from Alsace . He wrote the penitential preacher in 1808:
The wild Father Chrisolog,
Who made new heretics every day
And daily new miracles lied
Which even the mob often laughed at,
Once rose, it was carnival time
On a corner stone to teach
And of the service of vanity
To convert the people to repentance.
The heated argument was already over
Raised up with sin and the devil,
As a buffoon with a loud riot
The receiver broke through a tight dam.
The preacher was quickly abandoned;
Janhagel ran through all the streets,
Follow the colorful pickled herring.
The monk was furious: What a shame,
He cried, one of Hell's chicks,
A fool, elicit yourselves from the source
Of salvation and kill your thirst
According to wisdom. Oh! you are lost!
I am, you God-forgotten fools,
Because not as good as a buffoon?
- The celebratory speech at the strong beer tapping on the Nockherberg is given by humorists and actors in the role of the fasting preacher (also penitential preacher) Brother Barnabas. This role goes back to Brother Barnabas (1750–1795), whose real name was Valentin Stephan Still and was a master brewer in Munich .
- Wolf Schreiner describes in his novel Penitential Sermon - A Crime from the Bavarian Forest the situation of the pastor Baltasar Senner, who demands money collections for the roof structure of the church. Eventually he will solve the death of the main sponsor.
- Kevin Masalon titled his thesis with The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages - a monumental sermon of penance . In it the author deals with the representation of the memento mori in the Middle Ages. It shows the means and methods by which people are urged to repent and turn around.
- In the historical novel The Gates of the World , the author Ken Follett describes the penitential sermons of Prior Godwyn of Kingsbridge and reports on scourges.
source
- Roland Bainton: Martin Luther - Rebel for the Faith . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag , Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-55105-4 .
- Carl Andresen / Georg Denzler : Dictionary of Church History . dtv , Munich 1982, ISBN 3-423-03245-6 .
Web links
- Franz Grundmayr: Jesus of Nazareth the divine bus preacher . Augsburg, 1823. PP Bolling. Digitized online at books.google.de, accessed on May 21, 2013.
- Penitential preachers are very popular . In: GEO EPOCHE No. 39 - 10/09, accessed on May 21, 2013.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerd Lüdemann : From the Jewish penitential preacher to the saint. The man in camel hair: research decodes the strange career of John the Baptist . In: Die Welt from December 23, 2009. Online at www.welt.de, accessed on July 16, 2013.
- ↑ Peter Schels: Small Encyclopedia of the German Middle Ages. Heinrich von Melk (penitential preacher) ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Online at u01151612502.user.hosting-agency.de.
- ↑ The most successful penitential preacher of our time . In: Badische Zeitung of May 21, 2013. Online at www.badische-zeitung.de.
- ^ Project Gutenberg: Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel. The Penitent Preacher (1808) . Online at projekt-gutenberg.org.
- ↑ Wolf Schreiner: Sermon of Penance - A thriller from the Bavarian Forest. Goldmann Verlag, ISBN 978-3-442-47916-0 .
- ↑ Kevin Masalon: The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages - a monumental sermon of penance. Grin Verlag- Verlag for academic texts, 2008, ISBN 978-3-638-93790-0 .
- ↑ Ken Follett: The Gates of the World . Bastei Lübbe Verlag, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-404-16380-9 .