c. 1170–1180
Old French
The Sermons for the People
Maurice de Sully · c. 1120–1196
Short model sermons in French for parish priests to deliver, explaining the gospel of the day in the plainest possible terms.
Western · Homilies
1101–1200
The Twelfth Century
1 work
1201–1300
The Thirteenth Century
1 work
c. 1217–1219
Latin
The Statutes of Salisbury
Richard Poore · d. 1237
Diocesan statutes applying the Fourth Lateran reforms in England: what a parish priest must know, how to hear confessions, and what must be kept in a parish church.
Western · Canons
1301–1400
The Fourteenth Century
1 work
1357
Middle English
The Lay Folks' Catechism
John Thoresby · d. 1373
An archbishop's instruction, issued in Latin and English, that every priest teach his people the creed, commandments, sacraments, and works of mercy four times a year.
Western · Catechesis
1401–1500
The Fifteenth Century
1 work
written 1333; printed from 1470s
Latin
The Manual of Parish Priests
Manipulus Curatorum
Guido de Monte Rochen · 14th century
What a parish priest must know to administer the sacraments and hear confessions, written for clergy with little formal training.
Western · Handbook
1501–1600
The Sixteenth Century
3 works
1539
English
The Great Bible
Miles Coverdale · 1488–1569
A revision produced under royal authority and chained in every parish church by order of the crown, with a title page showing the king distributing the word.
Western · Translation
1547; second book 1571
English
The Book of Homilies
Thomas Cranmer and others
Official sermons to be read in parishes where the clergy could not preach, on scripture, salvation, faith, good works, and obedience to authority.
Anglican · Homilies
1566
Latin
The Roman Catechism
Catechismus ex Decreto Concilii Tridentini
The commission of the Council of Trent
A catechism written for parish priests rather than children, expounding the creed, sacraments, commandments, and Lord's Prayer at length.
Western · Catechism
1601–1700
The Seventeenth Century
2 works
written c. 1632; published 1652
English
A Priest to the Temple, or The Country Parson
George Herbert · 1593–1633
A portrait of the ideal country clergyman — his house, his wife, his charity, his catechising, and his practice of walking his parish rather than staying indoors.
Anglican · Pastoral
1656
English
The Reformed Pastor
Richard Baxter · 1615–1691
A charge to ministers to catechise every family in the parish personally, house by house, and an unsparing account of the author's own failures at it.
Reformed · Pastoral