English Works of John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester (1469-1535) Sermons and Other Writings, 1520-1535

by Fisher, John; Hatt, Cecilia A.

• ISBN13: 9780198270119
• ISBN10: 0198270119
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-04-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Bishop John Fisher was a scholar and theologian of European reputation, famous as a preacher and author of the first sermon-sequence to be printed in English. He was beheaded for his opposition to Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and pursued after his death by the enmity of theking, who surpressed his books and sought to blacken his name.The figure of John Fisher links the age of late medieval piety with the growth of Christian humanism and the new learning, which, as a friend of Erasmus, he introduced as chancellor of Cambridge University. His English writings are distinctive for their structured elegance and clarity. This newedition contains sermons written during the last fifteen years of Fisher's life, including a previously unpublished eyewitness account of the Field of Cloth of Gold celebrations, and devotional works composed while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xiii
Abbreviations	xiv
Editorial Practice and Texts	1	(1)
General Editorial Practice	1	(1)
Editions	2	(4)
A Brief Life of John Fisher	6	(10)
English Works of John Fisher: General Introduction	16	(26)
The Medieval Sermon Tradition	16	(6)
John Fisher and the Early Sixteenth Century	22	(5)
Structure and Style in Fisher's Sermons	27	(9)
John Fisher and the Critics	36	(6)
Preaching at Paul's Cross	42	(6)
Preaching Against Luther	48	(163)
Introduction to John Fisher's Controversial Sermons	48	(29)
The sermon ... made agayn the pernicious doctryn of Martin luther [1521]	77	(21)
Commentary	98	(47)
A sermon ... concernynge certayne heretickes [1526]	145	(30)
Commentary	175	(36)
Two Fruitful Sermons	211	(78)
Introduction	211	(15)
Here after ensueth two fruytfull Sermons [1520/1]	226	(28)
Commentary	254	(35)
A Sermon Preached on Good Friday	289	(61)
Introduction	289	(11)
A Sermon ... Preached vpon a good Friday	300	(24)
Commentary	324	(26)
Tower Writings	350	(62)
Introduction	350	(18)
A spirituall consolation [1534--5]	368	(8)
Commentary	376	(10)
The wayes to perfect Religion [1534--5]	386	(15)
Commentary	401	(11)
Appendix 1: Heresies, Doctrinal Controversies, and and Church Councils	412	(9)
Appendix 2: A Prayer to God the Father, written in the Tower of London	421	(6)
Bibliography	427	(30)
Index of Biblical References	457	(4)
General Index	461