This work explores the role of canon law in the ecclesiastical reform movement of the eleventh century, commonly known as the Gregorian Reform. Focusing on the Collectio canonum of Bishop Anselm of Lucca, it explores how the reformers came to value and employ law as a means of achieving desired ends in a time of social upheaval and revolution.

Published in 1998, these essays focus on Rome and the curia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Several relate to Cardinal Deusdedit and his canonical collection (1087) and to the pontificate of Paschal II (1099-1118). Both personalities and their ideas are presented within the larger setting of contemporary problems, highlighting divergent currents among ecclesiastical reformers at a time of the investiture controversies. A third common theme is formed by discussions of the organization and archival practices of the curia, which were of fundamental importance for the growth and codification of canon law, not to mention papal control of the Church.

Focusing on how the papacy took an increasing role in shaping the direction of its own reform and that of society itself, this text also addresses the role of the Latin Church in Western Europe and how reformist writings sought to change the behaviour and expectations of the aristocracy.

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. Le professeur Sommerville traite ici de la chrétiénte latine au coeurs de la période cruciale que fut le siècle du movement de réforme grégorien et du conflit d’investiture entre la papauté et l’empire. Ces études se préoccupent de la politique des papes, telle qu’on peut la voir exprimée au travers de leurs lettres et de canons issus des conciles qu’ils réunissaient. Elles s’intéressent aussi à leur influence sur la vie et les lois d’Eglise. L’histoire conciliare forme, en effet, la plus grande part de ce receuil et l’auteur s’y propose de soumettre textes et manuscrits appropriés à une étude détaillée, afin d’en déterminer la véracité et la chronologie. Ce faisant, il élimine aussi un certain nombre de problèmes pseudo-historiques, subvenus en raison de la trop confiance accordée aux editions anciennes. Cette enquête menée sur les textes est, de toute évidence, d’une grande importance en ce qui concerne l’étude du droit

This fascinating collection of sources, translated for the first time in English and assembled in one accessible volume, show the startling impact of papal reform in the eleventh century and its consequences. An essential collection for students of medieval history.

This book explores the relationship between the papacy and reform against the backdrop of social and religious change in later tenth and eleventh-century Europe. Placing this relationship in the context of the debate about ‘transformation’, it reverses the recent trend among historians to emphasise the reform developments in the localities at the expense of those being undertaken in Rome. It focuses on how the papacy took an increasingly active part in shaping the direction of both its own reform and that of society, whose reform became an essential part of realising its objective of a free and independent Church. It also addresses the role of the Latin Church in western Europe around the year 1000, the historiography of reform, the significance of the ‘Peace of God’ as a reformist movement, the development of the papacy in the eleventh century, the changing attitudes towards simony, clerical marriage and lay investiture, reformist rhetoric aimed at the clergy, and how reformist writings sought to change the behaviour and expectations of the aristocracy. Summarising current literature while presenting a cogent and nuanced argument about the complex nature and development of reform, this book will be invaluable for an undergraduate and specialist audience alike.