Some classics don’t age. Like Jean-Sébastien Brant’s Narrenschiff or Eloge de la Folie by Erasmus in Rotterdam, the sermons of Jean Geiler from Kaysersberg still deserve to be read and, even more, heard! A little anecdote: he was born in Schaffhausen in Switzerland, near Lake Constance, but his father, having been fatally injured by a bear, was raised by his great-grandfather in Kaysersberg, including the “de Kaysersberg”. 15th century, therefore: there were still bears wandering around.
For more than thirty years, this preacher who officiated at Strasbourg Cathedral, put his earthy verve, his lively and uncompromising verb at the service of the common good and, above all, the salvation of his fellow men. Denouncing the failings of religious authorities and politicians in place, tirelessly calling his fellow men to conversion, Geiler put all his ardor and energy into his preaching to his parishioners. Geiler has benefited from an instrument for the massive dissemination of his sermons: the book is developing at breakneck speed, thanks to the mobile characters of a certain Gutenberg, and revolutionary thing, easily copyable illustrations.
All this iconography was collected mainly in Alsace by Jean-Claude Wey and Laurent Naas in this beautiful book published by Verger Éditeur, a 160-page large-format book in full color.
France Bleu Elsass offers you “Jean geiler de Kaysersberg”
To try your luck, simply register in the game module below before Sunday January 30, 2022 at midnight.