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Sermo, vol. 21
Birgittine Preaching and the Cult of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena Abbey, 1397–c. 1515
Erik Bergman
- Pages: approx. 350 p.
- Size:156 x 234 mm
- Illustrations:2 col., 14 tables b/w.
- Language(s):English
- Publication Year:2027
- € 115,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-62516-4
- Hardback
- Forthcoming (Mar/27)
- € 115,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-62517-1
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This study illuminates the importance of sermons from Vadstena Abbey for understanding the construction of the cult of St Birgitta.
Subject(s)
BIO
Erik Bergman defended his thesis at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University. This is a revision of his thesis.
Besides Erik’s academical work, he serves as a parish priest in the Church of Sweden.
Summary
This volume presents a study of 125 sermons on Saint Birgitta of Sweden (1303–1373) preached in Vadstena Abbey during three different periods: 1397–1415, 1415–1460, and 1460–c. 1515. It investigates how twenty-six named and anonymous preachers in Vadstena Abbey constructed Saint Birgitta in sermons for her three feast days (Translation, Natalis, and Canonisation). The study demonstrates how they achieved this by making use of classical topoi and a selection of material from liturgical and hagiographical sources from Saint Birgitta’s feast days and from model sermons. By uncovering the origins, transmission, and modifications in the construction of Saint Birgitta in sermons, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the interplay between her cult and preaching. It illuminates the rhetorical strategies used by the preachers as they constructed Saint Birgitta as an imitable model of holiness for their congregations and further reveals the relationship between model sermons and sermons on saints. In addition to a full analysis of the sermons devoted to Saint Birgitta, this study provides sample manuscript descriptions, a list of the sermons’ themata, preachers’ biographical data, and transcriptions of eight sermons (previously unpublished) from the three periods.
In its detailed presentation this volume places Birgittine sermons in the wider context of medieval preaching and sainthood, thereby providing an understanding of the reception of Birgitta as a saint by the generations following her and demonstrating how she was constructed anew on each preaching occasion.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Material
3. Birgittine Preaching in Vadstena Abbey
4. Birgitta in Hagiography and Liturgy
5. The Rhetorical Construction of Birgitta in Sermons
6. From Model Sermons to Birgitta Sermons
7. Birgitta as a Model of Imitable Holiness
8. Conclusion
Appendix 1: Sample Manuscript Descriptions
Appendix 2: Themata of the Sermons on Birgitta
Appendix 3: Biographical Data of Identified Preachers
Appendix 4: Birgitta Sermons: Eight Examples
Bibliography
Index of Manuscripts
Index of People
