Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby

In an entertaining anecdote, the humanist scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam described how the Franciscan Observant preacher Roberto da Lecce would strip off his habit during his sermons to reveal the Crusader’s livery and armour underneath. How a preacher can aspire to be a Crusader warrior was a question that was often asked about another celebrated fifteenth century Franciscan preacher, St John of Capestrano (Italian: Giovanni da Capestrano; (1386–1456)). The present paper explores the activities of that saint with a particular focus on his Crusade campaigns and his pictorial depictions as a Crusader preacher. His iconographic tradition developed in the fifteenth century when he was generally pictured with a Crusader banner, which marked him as a preacher who supported the efforts to liberate Christian lands from the Ottomans.