The first question anyone interested in medieval sermons normally has is, how much preaching was actually done: at every Mass? on every Sunday? in every church, small or large? by every ordained priest? Behind this question lie centuries-old and often vague convictions that medieval preaching on the whole was infrequent, often neglected, and mostly not very intelligent. Such convictions have been fed not only by the Protestant opposition to the medieval Church, with its own greater emphasis on the word of God, but also the Roman Catholic experience, for which, before Vatican II, a sermon at daily Mass was quite unusual, and the Sunday sermon something to be gotten over with quickly, on the part of both celebrant and congregation. But medieval voices themselves often criticized and even reviled priests for neglecting their duties of instructing their people, for failing to give the spiritual food of God's word to their flocks.

Part Two of this study will address the question of how frequent preaching was in the period covered, within the larger framework of the occasions when a sermon was, or was to be, given. To anticipate: although the sermon collections here examined furnish a few new insights, on the whole the question of how frequently sermons were actually preached will not find a new answer – Owst's “dry bones of an old controversy” will not gain new life. But we shall notice that preaching was done at many other occasions than the weekly service in the parish church.