dr hab. Wojciech Mrozowicz, prof. UWr

Section 16.: Pulpit and power

One of the unpublished sermons of the abbot of the monastery of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Sagan, Ludolph (d. 1422), from a series based on the words of Mt 16:19 (“Quodcumque ligaveris super terram”) is part of the ecclesiological discourse of the era of the deep crisis of the Church caused by the Great Western Schism. The sermon is a voice in the polemic against Churchmen who, in their criticism, belittle the Church's position in the world and equate or subordinate it to the Empire. The paper will present argumentation appearing in the sermon for the superiority of spiritual over secular power, including, among other, an interpretation of the idea of the primacy of the pope or theory of translatio imperii. Ludolf uses arguments taken from the Bible, the provisions of canon law and references to knowledge of historical events and figures.