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In this book Morris examines the building of Christian society between 1050 and 1250. The two centuries covered were among the most creative in the history of the Church and saw the emergence of much that is considered characteristic of European culture and religion: universities, commercial cities, hospitals, the crusades, the inquisition, papal government, canon law, and marriage in its "western" form.
List of contents
I: The Papal Reform Movement and the Conflict with the Empire (c. 1046-1122): Christian Society in the Middle of the Eleventh Century; The Pattern of Social Change; Monastic Growth and Change; The Papal Reform (1046-1073); The Discord of Empire and Papacy (1073-1099); Greeks and Saracens; The Conflict Renewed: The Question of Investiture (1099-1122); II: The Growth of Christendom: The Roman Church and the Empire in the Twelfth Century; The Government of the Church in the Twelfth Century; The New Monastic Orders; The Christian Frontier; The Message of the Churches; Christianity and Social Ideas; Dissent; The Formulation of Faith; Property, Privilege, and Law; III: The Thirteenth Century: The Pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216); Friars, Beguines, and the Action Against Heresy; Proclaiming the Faith; Reason and Hope in a Changing World; The Structure of Government; The Roman Church and the Lay Power in the Thirteenth Century; Conclusions.
Summary
Traces the influence and legacy of the Roman Catholic Church across two centuries (1050-1250 AD). The text describes folklore and church architecture as well as the Crusades, the Inquisition, papal government, the College of Cardinals, the confessional, chivalry, hospitals and marriage.
Additional text
Professor Morris sets out to given an account of the religious history of the Latin west ... he has done so comprehensively, and with a magnificent deployment of historical scholarship and literary skill ... The book is superbly organized, and as one expects from its author it is a model of lucidity ... a thought-provoking as well as a comprehensively informative survey. It triumphantly succeeds in satisfying the needs of the expert, the student and the general reader; may it soon be made available at a less formidable price.
