The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness:
and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
Ecclesiastes 10:13
"THE following curious specimen of a late mediæval sermon is taken from the old German edition of the discourses of Dr. Johann Geiler von Keysersperg, a famous preacher in Strasbourg. The volume is entitled: "Die Emeis. Dis ist das Büch von der Omeissen, und durch Herr der Künnig ich diente gern. Und sagt von Eigenschafft der Omeissen, und gibt underweisung von der Unholden oder Hexen, und von Gespenst, der Geist, und von dem Wütenden Heer Wunderbarlich."
This strange series of sermons was preached at Strasbourg in the year 1508, and was taken down and written out by a barefooted friar, Johann Pauli, and by him published in 1517. The doctor died on Mid-Lent Sunday, 1510.
This is the discourse:--
"What shall we say about were-wolves? for there are were-wolves which run about the villages devouring men and children. As men say about them, they run about full gallop, injuring men, and are called ber-wölff, or wer-wölff.....wolves eat children through their innate savageness, because
they are savage, and that is (propter locum coitum ferum). Their savageness arises first from their condition. Wolves which live in cold places are smaller on that account, and more savage than other wolves. Secondly, their savageness depends on the season; they are more savage about Candlemas than at any other time of the year, and men must be more on their guard against them then than at other times.
It is a proverb, 'He who seeks a wolf at Candlemas, a peasant on Shrove Tuesday, and a parson in Lent, is a man of pluck.' . . . Thirdly, their savageness depends on their having young. When the wolves have young, they are more savage than when they have not. You see it so in all beasts.....the injury comes of the Devil, who transforms himself, and takes on him the form of a wolf So writes Vincentius in his Speculum Historiale. And he has taken it from Valerius Maximus in the Punic war. When the Romans fought against the men of Africa, when the captain lay asleep, there came a wolf and drew his sword, and carried it off. That was the Devil in a, wolf's form. The like writes William of Paris,--that a wolf will kill and devour children, and do the greatest mischief....the injury comes of God's ordinance. For God will sometimes punish certain lands and villages with wolves."
Sabine Baring-Gould
Q: What Became of the preaching of Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg?
A: "A clear call for reform was issued by the renowned preacher Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg, for whom the position of preacher in the cathedral was created in 1478. Preaching to great crowds, he called on the people to amend their lives, on the rulers to provide a more Christian government for the city, and on the clergy to abandon worldliness. In spite of his efforts, nothing important was accomplished, and the clergy his special target continued in their unreformed habits."
BillGilbert
"It will be seen from this extraordinary sermon that Dr. Johann Geiler von Keysersperg did not regard werewolves in any other light than natural wolves filled with a lust for human flesh; and he puts aside altogether the view that they are men in a state of metamorphosis. However, he alludes to this superstition in his sermon on wild-men of the woods, but translates his lycanthropists to Spain."
Sabine Baring-Gould
Medical Definition of lycanthropy. : a delusion that one has become or has assumed the characteristics of a wolf.
and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
Ecclesiastes 10:13
"THE following curious specimen of a late mediæval sermon is taken from the old German edition of the discourses of Dr. Johann Geiler von Keysersperg, a famous preacher in Strasbourg. The volume is entitled: "Die Emeis. Dis ist das Büch von der Omeissen, und durch Herr der Künnig ich diente gern. Und sagt von Eigenschafft der Omeissen, und gibt underweisung von der Unholden oder Hexen, und von Gespenst, der Geist, und von dem Wütenden Heer Wunderbarlich."
This strange series of sermons was preached at Strasbourg in the year 1508, and was taken down and written out by a barefooted friar, Johann Pauli, and by him published in 1517. The doctor died on Mid-Lent Sunday, 1510.
This is the discourse:--
"What shall we say about were-wolves? for there are were-wolves which run about the villages devouring men and children. As men say about them, they run about full gallop, injuring men, and are called ber-wölff, or wer-wölff.....wolves eat children through their innate savageness, because
It is a proverb, 'He who seeks a wolf at Candlemas, a peasant on Shrove Tuesday, and a parson in Lent, is a man of pluck.' . . . Thirdly, their savageness depends on their having young. When the wolves have young, they are more savage than when they have not. You see it so in all beasts.....the injury comes of the Devil, who transforms himself, and takes on him the form of a wolf So writes Vincentius in his Speculum Historiale. And he has taken it from Valerius Maximus in the Punic war. When the Romans fought against the men of Africa, when the captain lay asleep, there came a wolf and drew his sword, and carried it off. That was the Devil in a, wolf's form. The like writes William of Paris,--that a wolf will kill and devour children, and do the greatest mischief....the injury comes of God's ordinance. For God will sometimes punish certain lands and villages with wolves."
Sabine Baring-Gould
Q: What Became of the preaching of Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg?
A: "A clear call for reform was issued by the renowned preacher Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg, for whom the position of preacher in the cathedral was created in 1478. Preaching to great crowds, he called on the people to amend their lives, on the rulers to provide a more Christian government for the city, and on the clergy to abandon worldliness. In spite of his efforts, nothing important was accomplished, and the clergy his special target continued in their unreformed habits."
BillGilbert
"It will be seen from this extraordinary sermon that Dr. Johann Geiler von Keysersperg did not regard werewolves in any other light than natural wolves filled with a lust for human flesh; and he puts aside altogether the view that they are men in a state of metamorphosis. However, he alludes to this superstition in his sermon on wild-men of the woods, but translates his lycanthropists to Spain."
Sabine Baring-Gould
Medical Definition of lycanthropy. : a delusion that one has become or has assumed the characteristics of a wolf.
