ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the previous chapters of this book. The book shows the Avignon Popes' crusade bulls are full of harsh criticism for those friars and secular clergymen who preached without passion or excitement. Indeed, a thorough study of the first half of the fourteenth century provides several examples of lay discontent and opposition to crusade preaching. The study presented examines papal efforts to organize crusade preaching campaigns, the evolving use of the liturgy for the crusade and preserved crusade sermon texts – and their preachers – from the pontificate of Clement V to the European outbreak of the Black Death. The focus is on the organization of the preaching of the crusades to the Holy Land during the first half of the fourteenth century. Investigation of the diocesan registers in France, Germany and Spain will provide further knowledge of secular clergy's reaction to papal commands for crusade preaching.
