Valentin Portnykh, Doctor of Historical Sciences and Head of the History of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages Laboratory at the NSU Institute for the Humanities, translated from Latin into French the 13th Century Treatise "On the Preaching of the Cross" by the Dominican monk Humbert Romansky. It is his third book that was published by the Belgian publishing house Brepols for their prestigious Corpus Christianorum in Translation series. Previously, Portnykh’s reconstruction of the Latin text of this treatise was published by the Brepols in their Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Medievalis series, and the domestic publishing house "Aletheya'' published a Russian translation that was done in collaboration with Ivan Remorov, Candidate of Philology and Associate Professor at the Department of Source Studies of Literature and Ancient Languages.
Portnykh explained.
Translation is inevitably interpretation. In the course of work, you must understand everything as well as interpret in the comments what is incomprehensible to the modern reader. A specialist will still look at Latin, but the significance of translation is bringing the ancient text to a wide range of history buffs. For specialists, the comments are important as well as interpretations of passages that are difficult to understand, it’s easier to quickly navigate what is important to you and what is not and to translate. Thus, it turns out that the text is addressed both to people with an interest in history buffs as well as to professionals.
The book is unique in that it is a rare source. The author is Humbert Romansky, the fifth Grand Master of the Dominican Order. The treatise "On the Preaching of the Cross" is the only detailed instruction from an experienced preacher to beginners that has survived to this day. The text was used to justify the need to join the ranks of the crusaders and go on a crusade.
The historian continued,
It was preachers who conveyed their thoughts to the flock and demonstrated their ingenuity to attract believers. The Pope set the general direction, but it was the preachers who invented more and more new ways to interest the flock. Their sermons were rich with various "marketing” tricks.
