The Symbolic Role of Poverty in the Franciscan Preaching of the Saxon Era

Abstract

The Polish version of the article was published in “Roczniki Humanistyczne,” vol. 61 (2013), issue 2.
 The article presents selected aspects of the functioning of the concept of poverty in the narrative of Old Polish Franciscan preaching of the Saxon era. The relationship between the context formed by Old Polish culture and the role of the idea of poverty in the Franciscan movement is presented. The author attempts to present the adaptation of the topica, drawing on the broadly conceived Christian tradition, to the realities of the Polish Republic. To do so, an analysis of the discourse of various types of sermons is presented. The object of the analysis is Sunday and holiday preaching. The article, though, focuses on funeral sermons, which apparently has great significance for the Sarmatian culture. The concluding section highlights the extreme importance of the issue of poverty as one of those cultural symbols that defined the place and meaning of caritas in Old Polish culture. It was also necessary to form various aspects of the social sensitivity of those times.