Whereas an elitist 'mystical' discourse dominated vernacular religious literature of the 14th century, in the 15th century adherents of the so-called theology of piety initiated a tremendous 'democratization' of religious knowledge, which can also be seen as a reaction to the strongly increasing rate of literacy among the laity and the ability to produce books more cheaply due to the increased use of paper. Werner Williams examines central aspects of this development and its socio-historical prerequisites.

In the Late Middle Ages vernacular literature became immensely important as a means of communicating religious knowledge to the unlearned and semi-learned. Whereas an elitist 'mystical' discourse dominated vernacular religious literature of the 14th century, in the 15th century adherents of the so-called theology of piety initiated a tremendous 'democratization' of religious knowledge, which can also be seen as a reaction to the strongly increasing rate of literacy among the laity and the ability to produce books more cheaply due to the increased use of paper. This new inclusion of the laity in the religious literary culture contributed in an important way to the success of the Reformation. In the articles collected here, Werner Williams examines central aspects of this development and its socio-historical prerequisites. He interprets and contextualizes important works of mystical literature, provides an extensive analysis of the immense importance of the reform movements within the orders in the 15th century for the production, reception and circulation of religious literature, and finally, focuses on the diverse forms in which the lives of the saints, the most beloved medieval narrative genre, appear in vernacular literature.

Autorentext
Geboren 1946; 1968 B.A. University of Miami (Fla.); 1971 Ph.D. University of Kentucky; 1983 Habilitation; Professor für Deutsche Sprache und Literatur des Mittelalters an der Universität Augsburg; 2004 Verleihung der Ehrendoktorwürde an der Universität eské Budjovice (Budweis).