Abstrakt
Franciscan Henry of Wildenstein (+ 1409) was a popular preacher of the last third of the 14th century. It is apparent due to the fact that he preached for several times in Rome, Avignon, Vienna and Prague, all of these cities being important polical and cultural centers of the late-medieval Europe.
Among his audience we can also find powerful and high-ranking individuals, such as pope Urban VI, emperor Carles IV or members of the university of Vienna. Despite the significance of the preacher, only one manuscript, containing 13 sermons of Henry of Wildenstein (BSB, Clm 14256, fol. 2r-66v), has survived.
In this manuscript we can find, in addition to Henry's preachings in European capitals, three sermons that were delivered in a rather small episcopal town in the Kingdom of Bohemia, in Litomyšl. The reason for this was probably some personal conection between the preacher and bischop of Litomyšl Albert of Šternberk, as both of them were courtiers of Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia Charles IV.
The aim of this paper is to scrutinize and classify these three Henryʼs sermons from Litomyšl and put them in the appropriate historical and theological context. Two of these sermons work with eucharist theme, which is apparently a result of the popular contemporary cult of Corpus Christi.
The third of them is a memorial speech to the funeral of Charles IV (1378). Preacherʼs exegetical process indicates specific scholarly and theological tendencies of the last third of the 14th century.
The presented source can be seen as an example how modern religious influences were spread into the periphery on the basis of personal connections between members of elite.