Sermons of Distinction: a Vindication of the Study of Distinctiones Collections
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60923/issn.2533-2325/22427Keywords:
Distinctiones, Intellectual History, PreachingAbstract
This article explores an overlooked but intellectually rich source, the distinctiones collections—tools widely used by medieval preachers to analyze biblical words and structure concepts. Emerging in the late twelfth century, distinctiones evolved from scholastic exegesis into essential building blocks of sermon composition. The article traces the historical development of these collections, examines their stylistic shifts, and highlights their pervasive influence on preaching practices. Through case studies, it demonstrates how distinctiones enabled preachers to craft memorable, biblically grounded sermons. Despite their centrality to medieval intellectual and pastoral culture, distinctiones have received far less scholarly attention than other sermon "ingredients" like the exemplum. The article advocates for renewed research into this source, especially in light of new digital tools such as the Distinguo project, which now makes large corpora of distinctiones accessible for systematic study.
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