Kapisztrán Szt. János nagyböjti prédikáció-sorozata Boroszlóban
Quadragesimal Sermon Series of Saint John of Capistran in Wroclaw

Summary/Abstract: Between January and August, in 1453 John of Capistran (1386–1456) – as one of the most important sites of his North European circuit (1451–1456) – visited and resided in the Silesian capital, in Wroclaw, where he delivered preachings on each day of the Lent. The notes (reportationes) written down about his sermons are extant in various versions. The mere fact that such reportationes have survived at all can be regarded unique in the history of medieval preaching, at least, as far as Central Europe is concerned. It is also remarkable, that unlike the general practice, the reportationes were prepared on the basis of Latin and not vernacular sermons, since Capistran did not speak German. Moreover, besides the fact that the reportationes were recorded for less experienced preachers, they were also necessary for the interpreters. The first part of the paper analyses these reportationes by separating the functionally distinct layers of the text, and afterwards, the author makes an attempt to reconstruct the process of the compilation of the presently known reportationes. The second part of the article focuses on the sermons from the point of view of sins, the central theme of quadragesimal sermons. The main question raised by the author is what kinds of schemes of the sins, suitable for comparison and systematization, are presented in the reportationes for the listeners of the sermons, that is how their ethical teachings are helped to become perspicuous and evident.

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