Abstract

The article proposes several reflections on the studies on medieval and early modern prophetism produced in the last few decades, with the purpose of outlining its most relevant issues. From a methodological point of view, an ever-increasing attention to philological, material and cultural aspects can be observed. This scrupulousness has entailed a decrease in the importance not only of "classical" one-sided theses but also of the attention paid to ideal aspirations and general historical changes, which, until a decade ago, was an important feature of the historiography of prophetism. The text is divided into three sections: the first focuses on the relationship between prophetism and the political dimension; the second deals with the cultural aspects of the prophetic phenomenon; the third reflects on those authors and prophetic traditions that have become better known thanks to recent publications.