This volume of essays is the fruit of a 2010 conference dedicated to exploring the effects of preaching in the Middle Ages and early modern period. Organized by the Dipartimento di Paleografia e Medievistica, the Universita di Bologna, a gathering of international scholars sought to reflect on the range of possible consequences of the words of preachers, giving careful attention to the deeds and results emerging from their research. The volume's editor, Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli, underscores the need for this approach, stating that from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries preaching enjoyed widespread popularity and even preeminence, while preachers were deeply committed to the “fruit” of preaching which was “to transform the existing state of affairs” (2). This collection of essays, then, may be read as providing commentary on and interpretation of preaching in order to demonstrate its public nature and purpose, i.e. the development and cohesiveness of the civitas. What is “effective” preaching? According to Muzzarelli, it is the fruit of virtuous preachers. She refers to the well–known, medieval Franciscan, Bernadino da Siena, to make this point, that, “gold and silver makes for neither good preachers nor good preaching, but that good preachers are of such good life that their words bear an abundance of fruits that are a marvel to behold.”

Muzzarelli's introduction situates the volume among recent studies seeking to trace and contextualize the fruits of medieval and early modern preaching. She acknowledges the limitations of previous studies and notes particular challenges related to exploring the nexus between words and deeds. Pursuing this task requires considering the role of preachers as public intellectuals whose persuasiveness functioned to uphold, challenge, and at times redirect the aims of public authorities. Thus the fruits of preaching could contribute to preserving the status quo or transforming the social landscape. Muzzarelli again evokes Bernadino da Siena to make this point; effective preaching required consistent yet flexible use of concrete language characterized by “active, heat, and rigour.” These essays, then, seek to show how some of the most important preaching in late medieval and early modern Italy and Europe was “generated by real circumstances that it in turn affects: it is as concrete as the reality it tries to influence.”

From Words to Deeds consists of twelve articles divided into three sections. Here I would add that the message and effect of the respective sections would have been more focused with an introduction to each and a conclusion at the end of the book. The first section of essays addresses the theme of the efficacy of the preacher's discourse and religious communication. What preachers worked with and why they did so in their sermons is investigated. These chapters were helpful in that they sought to illuminate the stated motives, goals, strategies, and means taken up by preachers to address the complexities presented by particular religious, social, and political commitments and relationships. The second section addresses the effects of preaching on society. However, attending only to the language and aims of the preacher are insufficient for tracing a movement from words to deeds. The writers thus turn their attention to the ways in which preachers spoke and acted, both words and deeds, to accomplish their homiletic aims within a variety of religious and social settings. This section of essays provides insight into the “how” of preaching which served to unify the “what” and “why” of sermons discussed in the previous section. The last section focuses on the importance of Franciscan preachers; how they preached, how they were heard and perceived, how they were trained, how they were remembered, and how their memory contributed to shaping future preachers and preaching.

Yoko Kimura's essay, “Preaching Peace in Fifteenth Century Italian Cities: Bernadino da Fettre” shows the practice of popular preaching was a means for resolving internal conflicts in medieval Italian cities. Kimura's subject is Bernadino da Fettre, a Franciscan Observant who was known for “peace-preaching.” He introduces the protocol followed to secure a preacher of peace, the preaching itinerary of Bernadino, and the strategies utilized by preachers to guide listeners on the path of peace. Kimura then describes the character of Bernadino da Siena (1386–1444), whose ways of preaching were adapted by later preachers of peace. Kimura highlights how both words and deeds created an intimate connection between cities and preachers. Cities deployed preachers to serve their social interests, while preachers seized opportunities to instill Christian virtues and form Christian societies. Kimura argues for this continuum of peace—preaching was disrupted by the external influence of rising regional states and papal intervention, thus upsetting the stable relationship between preacher and cities and contributing to the decline of peace preaching and its efficacy.

“Biographies of the Franciscan Observance: Texts Narrating the Deeds” by Ippolita Checcili, explores the rise of Vitae, preaching biographies that accompanied the spread and success of the Franciscan Observance. Checcili shows the importance of Vitae in the fifteenth and succeeding centuries, and that they provided authentic depictions of the vita active (active life) from the hand of assistants and first-hand accounts. According to Checcili, the Vitae were original and authentic portraits of homiletic craftsmen (homines fabri). She finds a similarity in their purpose, structure, and hagiographical contents. The Vitae, moreover, served the needs of the growing Observance; the creation of written memory displaying the virtues and evangelical language associated with Franciscan holiness, a godly heritage exemplified by Francis of Assisi and Bernadino da Siena. Checcili concludes effective preaching was dependent upon the continua renewal of Franciscan sanctity in words and deeds. By working in this manner, the writers of From Words to Deeds: the Importance of Preaching in the Late Middle Ages offer a fresh approach toward exploring the “fruit” of preachers' words and deeds.