Summus Pontifex Ecclesiae, 380-1534

About the Book

This work is a survey of the (prophetic) high-priests of the Christian religion- commonly called the popes-, from the recognition of the ecclesia as the official cult of the Roman empire during late Antiquity, until the early sixteenth century. The work concentrates upon the relationship amongst long-term intellectual-cultural and socio-economic changes, and the expressly political role of the various popes. The work divides into five sections:

(a.) Conceptual framework: this section considers previous interpretations of the mediaeval popes, and introduces various conceptual tools for analysing papal history.

(b.) Popes and ecclesia from Antiquity to 1100: this section places the popes and Rome within the context of the general decline of Antique society, and the slow development of the early mediaeval world. Topics covered include: papal relations with polytheists, philosophers and caesars; monasticism; papal relations with the Byzantine empire; early papal relations with the new barbarian peoples of the west; the popes and the Franks, including Charlemagne and his successors imperial coronations; the disastrous Arab invasions of ninth century Italy; the rise of Otto Is empire, and the prolonged German attempts to control Rome against local nobles and recalcitrant clergy. This section ends with a consideration of the emperor Henry IVs struggles with the Romans, and papal involvement in the Great Jerusalem expedition of 1095.

(c.) The popes during the high Middle Ages, c.1100-1260: this section considers the curias position within the new Europe created by the changes of the eleventh and early twelfth century. In particular, it considers: Rome and the curias political positions within the polycentric world of post-1100 Europe; changing papal attitudes towards kings and kingship; and, structural changes within the papal-body, or legal-persona. The relationship of (Roman) law and other forms of group organisation to the papal-body are also considered.

(d.) the papacy from the later thirteenth until early fifteenth century: this section considers the curias position within European society during the prolonged economic and intellectual crises of the later Middle Ages. In particular, it considers: papal relations with the new hegemony of the kings of France, both in northern Europe and in southern Italy; the causes of the prolonged schism of 1378-1415; and, the attempts to settle European wide problems by the great councils of Constance and Basle.

(e.) the Renaissance: the final section considers the curia during the Renaissance, especially its re-establishment at Rome, and its role in Italian and foreign politics. This section also considers contemporaries debates about the reform of the Church, and early reactions to Luther.

About the Author

S.McQuillan was educated in Glasgow, Munich and Rome; and is the author of several works upon mediaeval ecclesiastical history.