The Evangelical Rhetoric of Ramon Llull: Lay Learning and Piety in the Christian West Around 1300

Johnston, Mark D.

ISBN 10: 0195090055 / ISBN 13: 9780195090055

Published by Oxford University Press, 1996

About this Item

Johnston, Mark D. : The Evangelical Rhetoric of Ramon Llull: Lay Learning and Piety in the Christian West Around 1300. New York : Oxford University Press, 1996. First edition/First impression. Octavo (8vo), 9.5"/24cm h. Bound in publisher's red cloth, silver lettering to spine. Plain white endpapers. [vii], viii-xii, [xiii-xiv], [2], 3-274. Intro, ten chaps, conclusion. Notes, works cited, index. Condition notes: near fine, clean tight first printing - lacking dustjacket. Former owner's name and particulars to head ffep, else unmarked. In the intro, the author cites as evidence for the spread of literacy a letter from King James of Aragon to two persons demanding the return of books from his library. Not much has changed! We personally inspect every book we offer.

Seller Inventory # 251029002

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Evangelical Rhetoric of Ramon Llull: Lay Learning and Piety in the Christian West Around 1300
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195090055
• ISBN 13: 9780195090055
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Missing
• Weight: 22 ounces
• Seller catalogs:
  • Christian Mysticism and Theosophy

About this title

Synopsis

Ramon Llull (1232-1316), born on Majorca, was one of the most remarkable lay intellectuals of the thirteenth century. He devoted much of his life to promoting missions among unbelievers, the reform of Western Christian society, and personal spiritual perfection. He wrote over 200 philosophical and theological works in Catalan, Latin, and Arabic. Many of these expound on his "Great Universal Art of Finding Truth," an idiosyncratic dialectical system that he thought capable of proving Catholic beliefs to non-believers.

This study offers the first full-length analysis of his theories about rhetoric and preaching, which were central to his evangelizing activities. It explains how Llull attempted to synthesize commonplace advice about courtly speech and techniques of popular sermons into a single program for secular and sacred eloquence that would necessarily promote love of God and neighbor. Llull's work is a remarkable testimony to the diffusion of clerical culture among educated lay-people of his era, and to their enthusiasm for applying that knowledge in pursuit of learning and piety. This book should find a place on the shelf of every scholar of medieval history, religion, and rhetoric.

About the Author

Marl D. Johnston was Professor of Spanish at Illinois State University.