Abstract
Instruction in the details of the faith was chiefly received from priests, either through a detailed syllabus of points, or through discussion of particular aspects via sermons. John Mirk's Festial was a lengthy collection of sermons which remained extremely popular throughout the period. It has been suggested that the Festial was conceived as part of the attempt to counter Lollard activity. The second sermon is from one of the major Lollard texts, the sermon cycle. The third sermon is the longest of the triad. These three sermons show the differences in treatment between preachers and sermon compilers, giving differing layers of penetration of the meaning of the text. Despite the links with Lollardy which are well attested for one, and have been suggested for another, there is little in the texts which can actually be considered heretical.
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