The English Sermon Before the Reformation
The history of English Christianity before the Reformation is, in many respects, a history of preaching. From the arrival of Roman missionaries at the end of the sixth century to the last generation of Catholic clergy under Henry VIII, the sermon served as one of the most vital instruments through which doctrine, devotion, and ecclesial identity were transmitted to the faithful. Yet the medieval English sermon has often been misunderstood in post-Reformation historiography, where it has been alternately dismissed as derivative, moralistic, or infrequent. Such judgments obscure the profound theological, pastoral, and cultural significance of preaching in a society where the spoken word, shaped by Scripture and tradition, functioned as a primary means of forming Christian life. This study seeks to recover the richness of that tradition by examining the English sermon from its patristic roots to the threshold of the Reformation, situating it firmly within the Catholic worldview that gave it coherence and purpose.
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