2025/01/14 by Esu, Matteo
paper · doi:10.25536/2024q005
Around 1430, the Viennese preacher and theologian Johann Geuss denounced a widespread practice in European cities: the buying and selling of phallic-shaped glasses, often during urban celebrations. Drawing on the Latin text of his Sermo de clave, this article examines the cultural and social insights it provides – alongside related texts – into popular traditions. The study explores the enduring presence of the Phallusglas, both as a material object and as a literary motif, over more than fifteen centuries, interrogating the varied purposes attributed to it, ranging from playful drinking vessels to instruments of sexual pleasure. Geuss’ claim that the phallic glass was referred to as a ‘key’ prompts an exploration of the key/penis analogy in several European languages. Returning to the sermon, the article analyzes the argumentative and rhetorical strategies employed to promote moral education, offering a close reading of relevant passages, with particular attention to gender dynamics and their narrative construction. The appendix presents the first critical edition of the sermon, along with a philological study of its textual transmission.