Originally published in 1937, this book contains a biography of Bartholomew of Exeter, one of the few bishops who supported Thomas Becket in his quarrel with Henry II. Some of his letters from the Pope, who used him as a judge delegate, are included in the volume, as is the Latin text of Bartholomew's Penetential, which deals with breaches of canon law and the penalties prescribed. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in English church history and the relations between the English monarchy and the Catholic Church.

In this second volume of studies on 12th-century canon law, Charles Duggan emphasises the European context of the emergence of the ius novum, the new law of the Western church, based on specific cases and informed by the academic learning of the schools where canon law was taught as a scholarly discipline. The themes range from marriage and forgery to regional applications, with studies on decretals to Hungary and Archbishop Roger of York respectively, Italian marriage decretals, the impact of the Becket dispute, litigation involving English secular magnates and the crown culminating with a perceptive analysis of the role of judges delegate in the formation and application of the new principles of law and jurisprudence which the practice of local courts and appeals to the papacy brought into being. Significant light is thrown on English collectors, judges, and secular and ecclesiastical litigants. Wherever possible, calendars are provided, often with more accurate identifications and dating, and based on the fullest manuscript sources.

The first two archbishops of Canterbury after the Norman Conquest, Lanfranc and Anselm, were towering figures in the medieval church and the sixth archbishop, the martyred Thomas Becket, is perhaps the most famous figure ever to hold the office. In between these giants of the ecclesiastical world came three less noteworthy men: Ralph d'Escures, William of Corbeil, and Theobald of Bec. Jean Truax's volume in the Ashgate Archbishops of Canterbury Series uniquely examines the pontificates of these three minor archbishops. Presenting their biographies, careers, thought and works as a unified period, Truax highlights crucial developments in the English church during the period of the pontificates of these three archbishops, from the death of Anselm to Becket. The resurgent power of the papacy, a changed relationship between church and state and the expansion of archiepiscopal scope and power ensured that in 1162 Becket faced a very different world from the one that Anselm had left in 1109. Selected correspondence, newly translated chronicle accounts and the text and a discussion of the Canterbury forgeries complete the volume.

This is the first detailed comparative study of patronage as an instrument of power in the relations between kings and bishops in England and Normandy after the Conquest. Esteemed medievalist Everett U. Crosby considers new perspectives of medieval state-building and the vexed relations between secular and ecclesiastical authority.

An up-to-date overview of the functions and contexts of penance in medieval Europe, revealing the latest research and interpretations.

In A Companion to Priesthood and Holy Orders in the Middle Ages, a select group of scholars explain the rise and function of priests and deacons in the Middle Ages. Though priests were sometimes viewed through the lens of function, the medieval priesthood was also defined ontologically–those marked by God who performed the sacraments and confected the Eucharist. While their role grew in importance, medieval priests continued to fulfil the role of preacher, confessor and provider of pastoral care. As the concept of ordination changed theologically the practices and status of bishops, priests and deacons continued to be refined, with many of these medieval discussions continuing to the present day.

The first comprehensive study of a bitter dispute which occupied the archbishops and monks of Canterbury throughout the 1180s and 1190s. For fifteen years the monks of Christ Church Canterbury waged a war against their archbishop, over a plan to build a church to provide funds for their administration, dedicated to Thomas Becket. Fearing the loss of their most beloved (and lucrative) saint to this new institution, the monks embarked on a course of action which saw rioting in the streets of Canterbury, their excommunication, and the cathedral placed under siege by the archbishop. Although at first glance an internal dispute between the archbishop and his cathedral chapter, it had a wide-ranging impact. The monks travelled thousands of miles in support of their cause, enlisting the backing of popes, cardinals, and the elites of Europe. In England, the kings during the period took a personal interest in the dispute, sometimes attempting to resolve it and sometimes hindering any chance of peace. This book, the first full account of the conflict, draws on the huge collection of letters it provoked (one of the largest compiled in the twelfth century), alongside other sources such as monastic culture, to offer a detailed narrative of this complicated feud between Archbishops Baldwin of Forde, Hubert Walter and their cathedral monks; it also considers the continuations of the dispute in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In addition, it analyses the key themes of the conflict: the role of royalty, travel, and the deployment of Thomas Becket.