The 'Crises in the History of the Papacy' is a fascinating study about the careers of twenty famous popes, whose lives influenced the development of the Church as well as the history of the world. It provides a perspective of the Papacy from the early 3rd to the early 20th century, as the Papacy has the most varied and remarkable history. This edition includes the lives and legacy of:_x000D_ St. Callistus and the Early Struggle_x000D_ St. Damasus and the Triumph_x000D_ Leo the Great, the Last Pope of Imperial Rome_x000D_ Gregory the Great, the First Mediæval Pope_x000D_ Hadrian I. and the Temporal Power_x000D_ Nicholas I. and the False Decretals_x000D_ John X. and the Iron Century_x000D_ Hildebrand_x000D_ Innocent III.: The Papal Zenith_x000D_ John XXII.: The Court at Avignon_x000D_ John XXIII. and the Great Schism_x000D_ Alexander VI.: The Borgia-Pope_x000D_ Julius II.: The Fighting Pope_x000D_ Leo X. and the Dance of Death_x000D_ Paul III. and the Counter-Reformation_x000D_ Sixtus V. and the New Church_x000D_ Benedict XIV.: The Scholar-Pope_x000D_ Pius VII. and the Revolution_x000D_ Pius IX._x000D_ Leo XIII.

Assaults on the dignity and the rights of the human person have been central to the ongoing crisis of the modern era in the last hundred years. This book takes a searching look at the roots of this problem and the various approaches to it by the eight men who led the Catholic Church in the twentieth century, from Pope St. Pius X and his crusade against Modernism to Pope St. John Paul II and his appeal for a renewed rapprochement between faith and reason. Thus it offers a distinctive, illuminating interpretation of recent world events viewed through the lens of an ancient institution, the papacy. The fascinating story is told by a veteran observer of Church affairs through short profiles of the eight popes, which include crucial, often little-known facts. The book includes substantial excerpts from the writings of the popes that give important insights into their personalities and thinking. It also includes a useful overview of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and its pivotal role in reshaping the Catholic Church. Serious and open-minded readers, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, as well as students of Church history will find this unique work an informative, timely, and inspiring guide to understanding many central events and issues of our times.

One of the most enduring and influential of all human institutions, the papacy has also been amongst the most controversial. No one who seeks to make sense of modern issues within Christendom -- or, indeed, world history -- can neglect the vital shaping role of the popes. In Keepers of the Keys of Heaven, eminent religion scholar Roger Collins offers a masterful account of the entire arc of papal history -- from the separation of the Greek and Latin churches to the contemporary controversies that threaten the unity of the one billion-strong worldwide Catholic community. A definitive and accessible guide to what is arguably the world's most vaunted office, Keepers of the Keys of Heaven is essential reading for anyone interested in the role of faith in the shaping of our world.

Written in the mid-fifteenth century, Pope Pius II’s Commentaries are the only known autobiography of a reigning pontiff and a fundamental text in the history of Renaissance humanism. In this book, Emily O’Brien positions Pius’ expansive autobiographical text within that century’s contentious debate over ecclesiastical sovereignty. Presenting the Commentaries as Pius’ response to the crisis of authority, legitimacy, and relevance that was engulfing the Renaissance papacy, she shows how the Commentaries function as both an aggressive assault on the papal monarchy’s chief opponents and a systematic defense of Pius’s own troubled pontificate and his pre-papal career. Illustrating how the language, imagery, and ideals of secular power inform Pius’ apologetic self-portrait, The Commentaries of Pope Pius II (1458–1464) and the Crisis of the Fifteenth-Century Papacy demonstrates the role that Pius and his writings played in the evolution of the Renaissance papacy.

Through a focused and systematic examination of late medieval scholastic writers - theologians, philosophers and jurists - Joseph Canning explores how ideas about power and legitimate authority were developed over the 'long fourteenth century'. The author provides a new model for understanding late medieval political thought, taking full account of the intensive engagement with political reality characteristic of writers in this period. He argues that they used Aristotelian and Augustinian ideas to develop radically new approaches to power and authority, especially in response to political and religious crises. The book examines the disputes between King Philip IV of France and Pope Boniface VIII and draws upon the writings of Dante Alighieri, Marsilius of Padua, William of Ockham, Bartolus, Baldus and John Wyclif to demonstrate the variety of forms of discourse used in the period. It focuses on the most fundamental problem in the history of political thought - where does legitimate authority lie?

Unn Falkeid considers the work of six fourteenth-century writers who waged literary war against the Avignon papacy’s increasing claims of supremacy over secular rulers—a conflict that engaged contemporary critics from every corner of Europe. She illuminates arguments put forth by Dante, Petrarch, William of Ockham, Catherine of Siena, and others.