Anastasius the Librarian, the greatest enemy of Byzantium you probably haven’t heard of, with Réka Forrai
Meet Anastasius the Librarian, one of the most fascinating controversialists of the ninth century. A native of Rome, scholar of Greek, and (probably) anti-pope for all of three days, he was no friend of Byzantium. He disliked and mistrusted “the Greeks” and argued that they were not Romans as they thought. His arguments have held sway in the west ever since.
When England was under Interdict
Under King John’s rule, England was placed under papal interdict for over six years.
Medieval Geopolitics: Striking Back against the Empire: Per venerabilem
‘The king in his kingdom is the emperor of his kingdom.’
Medieval Geopolitics: A Full-Fledged Theory of Medieval Papal Power
Hostiensis argued that the pope did not govern by divine mandate; rather he governed as a divine agent.
Medieval Geopolitics: The Evolution of Positive Law
In this column I trace the next stage in the evolution of the ideas first laid out Innocent’s influential decretal, focusing in particular on the writings of the canonist Laurentius Hispanus.
Medieval Geopolitics: How a Pope shares in the divine power of God
At the end of the twelfth century, Pope Innocent III issued a document known as the Quanto personam. What kind of influence did it have on ideas about sovereignty and power in the medieval era?
The Papacy, Inquisition and Saint Guinefort the Holy Greyhound
The legend of St Guinefort the Holy Greyhound reveals the medieval Church engaged in a familiar struggle: to balance popular piety with orthodox teaching.
Hadrian IV (1154-1159) and the “bull” Laudabiliter: a historiographical review
This work represents an exploration into the historiography of a hotly debated historical document known as Laudabiliter.
Medieval Geopolitics: Why Kings (and not Popes) should rule
Looking at two texts from the early 14th century that put forth the arguments for total regnal supremacy.
Medieval Geopolitics: James of Viterbo and More Papal Supremacy
James concluded that the Church must be considered a true kingdom – a regnum ecclesiae.
Medieval Geopolitics: Giles of Rome on why the Pope should rule the entire world
The early fourteenth-century would see the King of France and the Papacy fighting over who was the superior power. One of the leading scholars of that time would weigh on the matter – and provide the key arguments for Papal Absolutism.
How to explain the Medieval Papacy
How on earth did it come to wield the enormous amount of power that it did in the 13th century?
Medieval Geopolitics: The Conflict between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV of France
The clash between Pope Boniface VIII and the King Philip IV of France would lead to a consequential geopolitical question: where did the epicentre of supreme political authority lie in Medieval Latin Christendom?
The Great Western Schism, Legitimacy, and Tyrannicide: The Murder of Louis of Orléans (1407)
I will argue that the use of this kind of vocabulary during the Schism may have facilitated a slip into the rhetoric of tyrannicide, and may have incited it. I will suggest that the climate and rhetori of the Schism may have led John the Fearless to rationalize tyrannicide against his cousin, Louis of Orléans.
The papacy and Byzantium in the seventh- and early eighth-century sections of the Liber pontificalis
The papal narrative undermines the usual assumptions about the so-called Byzantine Reconquest and the Roman perception, if not the reality, of the degree to which ‘Byzantine rule’ was exercised in Italy between the middle of the sixth and first half of the eighth century.
Medieval Geopolitics: The Medieval “Church-State”
If you’re interested in why the medieval Church did what it did – and how it was able to do so in the political sphere – I think you’ll enjoy this series.
Pope Clement VI: attempts to resurrect the papal monarchy
The papacy of Clement VI (1342-1352) was distinguished by its political activism, its attempt to resurrect the impetus for crusading, and its efforts to attract the best and brightest talents to Avignon.
The Authoritative Text: Raymond of Penyafort’s editing of the Decretals of Gregory IX (1234)
The Decretals has long been understood as a key text for the study of the medieval papacy, the rise of scholasticism within the universities, and the extension of the Church’s jurisdiction into almost every area of medieval life.
The Medieval Magazine: (Volume 3: No. 18): Issue 101: Reformation 500
In this issue: 80+ pages of news, books, articles, exhibits, and events, with a focus on the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation!
Judicial Inquiry as an Instrument of Centralized Government: The Papacy’s Criminal Proceedings against Prelates in the Age of Theocracy (Mid-Twelfth to Mid-Fourteenth Century)
From the end of the twelfth century until the Great Schism, the papacy prosecuted hundreds of prelates who were charged with ‘crimes’ (crimina), ‘excesses’ (excessus), or ‘enormities’ (enormia, enormitates), these words being used interchangeably in the documents.
The Walk to Canossa: The Tale of an Emperor and a Pope
Ever since it happened people have been debating what took place at Canossa. Some have called it a brilliant masterstroke by Emperor Henry IV, while others have termed it his humiliation.
The Cadaver Synod: Low Point in the History of the Papacy
The notorious Cadaver Synod, when one Pope put on trial the corpse of one of his predecessors. Perhaps the lowest point in the history of the Papacy, the story of this trial is as murky as it is strange.
The Medieval Magazine (Volume 3, No. 12) : Medieval Nation
In this issue we tackle National Holidays and the development of Nations, manuscripts at the Getty, and look at courtly festivities and jousting in London. We’re also baking bread Viking style, taking a trip to Avignon, and joining the medieval navy!
Medieval Sources of Sovereignty: The Idea of Supreme Authority in Quanto Personam and its Glosses
Pope Innocent III’s decretal Quanto personam, issued on 21 August 1198, makes a number of claims regarding the locus, source and character of supreme authority within the Church.