Nicolas De Maeyer, Gert Partoens, Shari Boodts, Anthony Dupont (dir.), Vox praedicatoris: Latin Patristic Sermons, Their Transmission, and Their Reception (4th-15th C.), Turnhout, 2025.

Éditeur : Brepols
Collection : Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia, 98
736 pages
ISBN : 978-2-503-61325-3
185€ (Η.Τ.)

This volume presents the proceedings of the conference ‘Ministerium Sermonis. An International Colloquium on St. Augustine's Sermons' (8-10 December 2021). The nineteen articles collected here focus on the transmission, critical edition, interpretation, and reception of Latin Patristic sermons, and particularly the sermons of the African Church Father Augustine of Hippo. By combining philological, exegetical, theological, rhetorical, and historical approaches, this volume aims to demonstrate the value of these sermons as a key source for understanding the Early Christian Church. The volume forms a sequel to the proceedings of the previous three Ministerium Sermonis conferences (Leuven-Turnhout 2008, Rome 2011, Malta 2015), which have also been published in the series Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaeualia (subseries Ministerium Sermonis I, II, III).

International Conference 
"The Science of Natural Properties: Knowledge, Transmission, and Practice (6th – 15th century)"

University of Bologna, 17-19 June
Organisers: Alessandra Scimone & Amine Xhakoni with the participation of Lucia Raggetti (UseFool project, University of Bologna)

The useful and occult properties of mineral, vegetal, and animal substances permeate various genres and traditions, laying at the intersection of theoretical and experimental science. The lack of a theoretical dimension has traditionally developed into a derogative argument to consider this knowledge a second-class lore, more superstitious than technical. Recent research has overturn this negative image, and aims to reconstruct the bodies of knowledge implicit in the technical procedures described in the sources. Over the centuries and across borders, this body of knowledge intertwined with a wide spectrum of applications, all rooted in an empirical principle: properties manifest through their effects, whether the causal mechanism is evident or remains silent. The science of properties proved endlessly adaptable. For example, magic extensively employed these principles in the production of talismans, while medicine and pharmacology developed therapeutical applications, such as those found in the dynamidia genre, and sometimes relying on ingredients whose power was symbolic rather than strictly therapeutical. These same theoretical foundations also informed more technical and artisanal applications, such as ink-making, metalwork, and leatherworking.