Bishop and Chapter in Twelfth-Century England: A Study of the 'Mensa Episcopalis'

by Everett U. Crosby

Overview

This book is a study of the reformation in ecclesiastical politics in twelfth-century England whereby the cathedral chapter, by gradually gaining control of more of its own wealth and resources, increased its power and emerged as a community largely independent of the bishop. The story illuminates an important period in the internal life of the Church, when the obligations and rights of individuals and institutions were being given ever more precise definition, and when new views on Church doctrine and canon law, as well as on royal and papal interests, became the concern of many of the leading ecclesiastics of the day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521445078
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/12/1994
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series , #23
Pages:	468
Product dimensions:	5.71(w) x 8.78(h) x 1.57(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. The place of the mensa; 2. The episcopal church in the kingdom; 3. The cathedral priories: Bath and Wells, Canterbury, Carlisle, Coventry, Durham, Ely, Norwich, Rochester, Winchester, Worcester; 4. The secular cathedrals: Chichester, Exeter, Hereford, Lincoln, London, Salisbury, York; 5. The chapter as community.

Editorial Reviews

"In sum, the author is erudite, the work significant, and the general arguments convincing." Speculum-A Journal of Medieval Studies

"This monograph is the first comprehensive study of the long and complicated history of the mensa episcopalis." "In the main, this is an important study, which will be fundamantal for all future work on the relations between English bishops and their chapters in the period after the Norman Conquest." Marjorie Chibnall, Albion

"...this is an important study, which will be fundamental for all future work on the relations between English bishops and their chapters in the period after the Norman Conquest." Albion

From the Publisher