G. J. Cuming - Böcker

The Ecclesiastical History Society has devoted two meetings to the theme of 'Councils and Assemblies'; this seventh volume of Studies in Church History, covering a wide span of time, contains twenty-two papers on varying aspects of the subject. Starting in the early Middle Ages, it moves through the great medieval councils to Vatican I and II. Geographically the gatherings range from Byzantium to Cornwall, from Edinburgh to Cape Town. Some produced valuable legislation in the fields of welfare or education, others were sterile debates between irreconcilable viewpoints. Some of the papers raise issues of the first importance, others fill gaps in our knowledge. All are well worth the attention of historians.

This eighth volume of Studies in Church History contains twenty-six papers read at two recent meetings of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Popular religion, in theory and practice, within established religious forms and outside them, against a background of acceptance or of controversy, is examined in studies ranging from Professor Momigliano's analysis of the attitude of the later Roman historians to Professor Latreille's discussion of popular piety in modern France. A number of papers focus on the attitudes to sanctity and relics in the central Middle Ages. There is also a significant and wide-ranging discussion centred on the theme of the Presidential Address: post-Reformation popular religion both in its local and general setting. These contributions clearly demonstrate the significance of current research into social and economic influences upon popular faith, practice and allegiance, and indicate the large areas and difficult problems which require further research.