ABSTRACT
Preachers were forced to be entertaining, and would have resorted to comic effects; they would have cultivated a strong persona. Peire Cardenal's sermon 'Predicator' is exceptional in the chain of parodies studied by virtue of its explicitly devotional content. Peire Cardenal's versified sermons are similar to versified sermons found in the Anglo-Norman corpus, as well as to extant didactic texts in Occitan. The sermons of Peire Cardenal are unusual in that they appear to be the work of a secular figure, addressing a predominantly secular audience in his familiar—anti-clerical—persona. The sermon's list of precepts for the good conduct of a wealthy man in society eschews exhortations to penance. The cycle of Heavenly dialogues is closely connected to sermon material; sermons condemning the use of cosmetics by women are attested from an early period, and the narrative frame of these texts suggests anexemption.
