Kathleen G. Cushing - Böcker

This work explores the role of canon law in the ecclesiastical reform movement of the eleventh century, commonly known as the Gregorian Refom movement. Focusing on the Collectio canonum of Bishop Anselm of Lucca - hitherto largely unexplored in English - it is concerned with the symbiotic relationship between canon law and reform, and seeks to explore the ways in which Anselm's writing can be seen in the context of the reformer's need to devise and articulate strategies for the renovation of the Church and Christian society. Its principal contention is that Anselm's collection cannot be seen merely as a catalogue of canon law, but also functioned to articulate, define, and propagate reformist doctrine in a time of great social and religious upheaval.

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.

The essays in this volume in honour of Martin Brett address issues relating to the compilation and transmission of canon law collections, the role of bishops in their dissemination, as well as the interpretation and use of law in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The studies are grouped thematically under the headings 'Bishops and Their Texts', and 'Texts and the Use of Canon Law'. These reflect important areas of contention in the historiographical literature and hence will further the debates regarding not simply the compilation and dissemination of canonical collections in the earlier middle ages, but also the development of the practical application of canon law within Europe, especially after c.1080. Individually, the contributors offer new viewpoints on key issues and questions relating to the creation of canonical texts, their transmission and use on both sides of the English Channel in the decades either side of the year 1100. Collectively, the essays explore the methods and motives of compilers, assess the use of law, find readers both in the compilation of texts and within their margins, and - perhaps most importantly - speculate where possible about the living communities in which these texts were compiled, copied and used.

Reflecting the focus but also range of their honorand's work in medieval canon law in the era before Gratian, the essays in this volume explore the creation and transmission of canonical texts and the motives of their compilers but also address the issues of how the law was interpreted and used by diverse audiences in the earlier middle ages, with especial focus on the eleventh and early twelfth centuries. These issues have lain at the heart of Linda Fowler-Magerl's distinguished body of scholarly work on judicial ordines and procedural literature, on the transmission of canonical texts and their formal sources before Gratian, and perhaps most especially her pioneering role in the creation of a database of canon law manuscripts before Gratian now published as Clavis canonum. Linda Fowler-Magerl's work has fundamentally transformed our understanding of canonistic activity in the era before Gratian and its reception across the Church throughout Europe. Individually the scholars whose studies are included in this volume offer new viewpoints on several key issues and questions relating to the creation of canonical texts, the concerns of their compilers and the transmission of their work, as well as the use of such texts by readers with the most various interests in the period. As a whole, the volume contributes to an understanding of the increasing importance of the written law for a far wider circle than Roman reformers and local advocates. These issues are especially highlighted by the editors' introduction.