Kazanie „De nihilo” (BJ rkps 2151)

Abstract

One of Jagiellonian Library’s manuscripts, the property of Andrzej z Buku dated 1417/18, contains, beside some fine treaties, sermons and theological questions, also two so called sermons De nichilo. The sermons are both anonimous, however, their genesis can be associated with the Day of Innocents. The present article focuses on the rhetorical analyse of the first of the sermons. The author defines the sermon as a centon created by composing various quotations derived from The Bible, moreover, she indicates its topic, which has determined an outwardly accidental selection of the quotations. The analyse of the composition, style and vocabulary, as well as the prosody of the text presents the sermon as the travesty of sermo sapientiale. As long as the basic text, the Bible, is concerned, it is shown that not only does the sermo break the rule decorum on the level of style and characters, but also makes Bibl's phrases perversely ambiguous, furthermore, in the narrative part, it changes the order of biblical events into absurd plots. The conclusion of the article gives the outline of the social and philosophical context of the sermo De nihilo.