The Antonian Zoo: Use of Animal and Human Traits in Medieval Sermons
Abstract
In the mid 1220s Anthony of Padua, who had lectured on Sacred Scripture for a year at a Franciscan School that he had established in Bologna, was asked to write out his lectures. Instead he wrote a resource book for preachers. This contained material for all Sundays of the year and its major feast days, a more practical treatise for fledging preachers because it also contained pointers on how to preach. Among the resources are comparisons between characteristics of animals, plants, and minerals with human characteristics. This paper investigates what influenced Anthony, analyzes his probable resources, and lists all the creatures from his general animal “zoo” together with examples of his contrasting of animal and humans characteristics.Downloads
License
For articles: All articles published in Homiletic are the exclusive property of the Journal. All copyright rights to the article shall be owned by and be in the name of the Academy of Homiletics. The Academy of Homiletics in turn grants all authors the right to reprint their articles in any format that they choose, without the payment of royalties, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication with Homiletic. The Academy of Homiletics also permits articles to be copied for non-profit educational use provided proper credit is given to Homiletic. Authors may self-archive their articles in an institutional repository or other online location, provided proper credit is given to Homiletic.
For reviews: All reviews commissioned by Homiletic are the exclusive property of the Journal. Reviews are considered a work made-for-hire, and, as such, all copyright rights to the review shall be owned by and be in the name of the Academy of Homiletics. The Academy of Homiletics in turn grants all review authors the right to reprint their reviews in any format that they choose, without the payment of royalties, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication with Homiletic. The Academy of Homiletics also permits its reviews to be copied for non-profit educational use provided proper credit is given to the review author and the Journal. Authors may self-archive reviews in an institutional repository or other online location, provided proper credit is given to Homiletic.
