Papacy, Councils and Canon Law in the 11th-12th Centuries

Professor Somerville deals here with the history of Latin Christianity at a crucial time - the century of the Gregorian reform movement and of the Investiture conflict between the papacy and the empire.

The articles are concerned with the policies of the popes, as expressed in their letters and the canons of the councils they summoned, and with the impact on the life and laws of the Church.

Conciliar history, indeed, forms the main focus of the volume, and the author's aim has been to subject the relevant texts and manuscripts to detailed scrutiny in order to determine their veracity and chronology.

In so doing he also demolishes some of the pseudo-historical problems that have arisen from an uncritical reliance upon early printed editions.

This investigation of the texts is of evident importance for the study of canon law, but it also shows how they can serve as valuable sources for the history of the Western Middle Ages, revealing much about life in the period, as well as about papal politics.