[International Medieval Research] Negotiating Secular and Ecclesiastical Power Volume 6 (Western Europe in the Central Middle Ages) ||

Traditional historiography generally stresses the opposition and contradiction between secular and ecclesiastical power. By contrast, this volume focuses upon the interdependence of secular and ecclesiastical power and on the ways both secular rulers, kings, counts and other lords, and ecclesiastical authorities and institutions continuously interacted, trying to affirm the relationships between them. This selection of a historiographical introduction plus nine case-studies from England, northern France and the Low Countries enables a subtle comparison of secular and ecclesiastical links and social interactions in a series of regional and local contexts during the Central Middle Ages. The volume demonstrates that this process of negotiation led to an affirmation of shared values and contributed to the creation of common social values in medieval Europe. Ludo Milis (Universiteit Gent), “This book, composed around three major themes (‘Texts as Tools of Power’, ‘Land and Kinship’, and ‘Conflict and Affirmation’), exemplifies how medievalists can reshape their discipline into a more responsive one. Its scope is not to offer a wide range of definitive explanations, but it shows how medievalists should try (and indeed do try) to return to a close reading of their documents. For far too long, institutional history, legal history, and histoire événémentielle have tried to monopolize power relationships and to encapsulate them in rather narrow explanatory schemes. This volume offers a broader and more encompassing approach.” " How was medieval Europe held together? People of dissimilar occupations and economic interests, living in widely separate parts of western Europe, came to recognise and act upon a common set of cultural beliefs. This framework of shared social customs and values, that is distinctively medieval and European, arose from the interaction between secular and ecclesiastical power, but these developments can no longer be convincingly viewed as arising solely from events such as the Wars of Investiture and the Fourth Lateran Council. The historiography of this study shows that the medieval mental framework was not solely concerned with the great struggles between Rome and lay rulers, but neither can we assume that local communities were islands of cohesion in a wider world of chaos and conflict. The case studies presented demonstrate how texts were used as weapons by ecclesiastical authorities in defining their relationships with lay powers. Other studies here focus upon how land and kinship was used to define the social relations between the laity and the clergy. The concluding section concentrates upon the solution of conflicts. Contributions comprise two introductory papers: L. Milis; Preface H. Teunis; Secular and Ecclesiastical Power in the Central Middle Ages: An Introduction Part One: Texts as Tools of Power J. Potter; The De Libertate Beccensis: Context and Analysis K. Uge; Relics as Tools of Power: The Eleventh-Century Inventio of St. Bertin T. Lemmers; Chaos and Order in Guibert of Nogent's Monodiae B.-M. Tock; The Political Use of Piety in Episcopal and Comital Charters of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries Part Two: Land and Kinship C. Senecal; Bishops as Contenders for Power in Late Anglo-Saxon England: the Bishopric of East Anglia and the Regional Aristocracy A. Wareham; Kinship and the Social Order in England and Normandy H. Tsurushima; The Fraternity of Ramsey Abbey This collection of essays examines the framework of shared social customs and values, that is distinctively medieval and European. " Front matter (“Contents”, “List of Illustrations and Maps”, “Preface”, “Introduction”, “Notes on Contributors”, “List of Abbreviations”), p. i Free Access Negotiating Secular and Ecclesiastical Power in the Central Middle Ages: A Historiographical Introduction, p. 1 Henk Teunis https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4794 The Political Use of Piety in Episcopal and Comital Charters of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, p. 19 Benoît-Michel Tock https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4795 The Crisis of Episcopal Authority in Guibert of Nogent’s Monodiae, p. 37 Trudy Lemmers https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4796 Relics as Tools of Power: The Eleventh-Century Inventio of St Bertin’s Relics and the Assertion of Abbot Bovo’s Authority, p. 51 Karine Ugé https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4797 Monastic Freedom vs. Episcopal and Aristocratic Power in the Twelfth Century: Context and Analysis of the De libertate Beccensis, p. 73 Julie Potter https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4798 Bishops as Contenders for Power in Late Anglo-Saxon England: The Bishopric of East Anglia and the Regional Aristocracy, p. 89 Christine Senecal https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4799 Two Models of Marriage: Kinship and the Social Order in England and Normandy, p. 107 Andrew Wareham https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4800 Forging Unity between Monks and Laity in Anglo-Norman England: The Fraternity of Ramsey Abbey, p. 133 Hirokazu Tsurushima https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4801 Parchment and Power in Abbey and Cathedral: Chartres, Sherborne and Vézelay, c. 1000–1175, p. 149 John O. Ward https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4802 Conflict and Compromise: The Premonstratensians of Ninove (Flanders) and the Laity in the Twelfth Century, p. 167 Arnoud-Jan A. Bijsterveld https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4803 Back matter (“Index of Persons”, “Index of Places”, “Thematic Index”), p. 185