Predigt

Sermon, religious instruction of lay people, since the Councils of 813 also held in vernacular language. Became more and more important during the 12^th  and 13^th  centuries (crusades, founding of new orders, such as the Dominicans, later Franciscans). Medieval sermons, which were enriched with exemplary tales (called "Mären" in German), dealt with subjects from the Bible and also exhorted the congregation to atone for their sins, seek indulgence, and make donations; sermons also dealt with concrete social problems and the written records are thus an important source of cultural history. One of the first German collections of sermons probably dates back to the 2^nd  half of the 12^th  century in Tyrol and was written by a priest called Konrad; the Penitential Sermons of Klosterneuburg (end of the 12^th  century) and the Sermons of St. Paul (Carinthia, before 1230) have also been preserved. Berthold of Regensburg, who was the most important preacher during the Middle Ages, worked in Austria around 1260. The most outstanding preacher in the Baroque era was Abraham a Sancta Clara. The literary significance of sermons has diminished since those days and preachers have been focusing more on religious issues.

Literature: J. B. Schneyer, Geschichte der katholischen Predigt, 1969; V. Mertens and H.-J. Schiewer, Die deitsche Predigt im Mittelalter, 1991; F. P. Knapp, Die Literatur des Früh- und Hoch-Mittelalters, 1994.