POST-MEDIÆVAL PREACHERS. LONDON: GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN’S SQUARE. [Illustration: Some account of the most celebrated Post Mediæval Preachers. by S. Baring Gould, M.A.] POST-MEDIÆVAL PREACHERS: SOME ACCOUNT OF THE MOST CELEBRATED PREACHERS OF THE 15TH, 16TH, & 17TH CENTURIES; WITH OUTLINES OF THEIR SERMONS, AND SPECIMENS OF THEIR STYLE. BY S. BARING-GOULD, M.A. AUTHOR OF “ICELAND: ITS SCENES AND SAGAS.” London, RIVINGTONS, WATERLOO PLACE; HIGH STREET, | TRINITY STREET, Oxford. | Cambridge. 1865. [Illustration] PREFACE. The following work is of Theological, Biographical, and Bibliographical interest. It has been written with the view of bringing a class of Preachers before the public who are scarcely known even by name to the theological student, but who are certainly remarkable for their originality, depth, and spirituality. Among the numerous Preachers of the three centuries under review, it has been difficult to decide which to select, but those chosen are believed to be the most characteristic. The Author returns thanks to Mr. John Mozley Stark, of Fitzwilliam-street, Strand, for his assistance in the compilation of this Work, by the loan of some costly and scarce volumes not in the Author’s library. The title-page, and the Dance of Death at the head of this page, are taken from the Sermons of Santius Porta, printed and published by J. Cleyn, Lyons, 4to. 1513. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 GABRIEL BIEL 61 JEAN RAULIN 69 MEFFRETH 81 MATTHIAS FABER 100 PHILIP VON HARTUNG 116 JOSEPH DE BARZIA 134 JACQUES MARCHANT 155 JOHN OSORIUS 177 MAXIMILIAN DEZA 192 FRANCIS COSTER 206 INDEX 237 INTRODUCTION. The history of preaching begins with the first sermon ever delivered, the first and the best, that of our blessed Lord on the mount in Galilee. The declamations of the ancient prophets differ widely in character from the sermons of Christian orators, and in briefly tracing the history of sacred elocution, we shall put them on one side.