The Avignon Papacy And The Crusades 1305 1378

The lengthy period of the Avignon papacy in the fourteenth century created circumstances in which the burgeoning bureaucracy of the papal curia could flourish. Papal involvement in the everyday business of the church at local level reached its fullest extent in the years before the Great Schism. This book examines the impact of that involvement in Scotland and northern England, and analyses the practical effect of theories of papal sovereignty at a time when there was still widespread acceptance of the role of the Holy See. The nature and importance of political opposition, from both crown and parliament, is investigated from the standpoint of the validity of the complaints as indicated by local evidence, and a new interpretation is offered of the various statutory measures taken in England in Edward III's reign to control alleged abuses of papal power. Points of similarity and difference between Scotland and England are also given due emphasis. This is the first work to attempt to analyse the full breadth of papal involvement in late medieval Britain by utilising the rich local sources in association with material from the Vatican archives.

"Much has been written about the complex relationship between England and the papacy in the 14th century, yet the form (rather than the content) of the diplomatic intercourse between these two protagonists has not hitherto been examined in detail. Drawing on a wide range of unpublished sources, Pluger explores the techniques of communication employed by the Crown in its dealings with Clement VI (1342-52) and Innocent VI (1352-62). Methodologies of social and cultural history and of International Relations are brought to bear on the analysis of the dialogue between Westminster and Avignon, resulting in a more complete picture of 14th-century Anglo-papal relations in particular and of medieval diplomatic practice in general."

The crusading movement in the fourteenth century, and the support given to it by the Popes at Avignon, form the central theme of this study. By focusing on the crusading policy of the papal Curia it also illuminates other fields of Avignonese activity, such as papal taxation and relations with Byzantium, as well as offering general comments on papal objectives, approaches, and limitations. The author examines the contribution made by the Avignonese Curia to all aspects of the crusades: their initiation, their organization and financing, their control in the field, and their diplomatic repercussions ... he extends his study to cover all areas where crusading occurred--the eastern Mediterranean, Spain, eastern Europe, and Italy ... he analyses the Curia's approach to ... peacemaking between warring Christian powers, the work of the Military Orders, and western attempts to maintain a trade embargo on Mamluk Egypt. -Dust jacket.

With the arrival of Clement V in 1309, seven popes ruled the Western Church from Avignon until 1378. Joëlle Rollo-Koster traces the compelling story of the transplanted papacy in Avignon, the city the popes transformed into their capital. Through an engaging blend of political and social history, she argues that we should think more positively about the Avignon papacy, with its effective governance, intellectual creativity, and dynamism. It is a remarkable tale of an institution growing and defending its prerogatives, of people both high and low who produced and served its needs, and of the city they built together. As the author reconsiders the Avignon papacy (1309–1378) and the Great Western Schism (1378–1417) within the social setting of late medieval Avignon, she also recovers the city’s urban texture, the stamp of its streets, the noise of its crowds and celebrations, and its people’s joys and pains. Each chapter focuses on the popes, their rules, the crises they faced, and their administration but also on the history of the city, considering the recent historiography to link the life of the administration with that of the city and its people. The story of Avignon and its inhabitants is crucial for our understanding of the institutional history of the papacy in the later Middle Ages. The author argues that the Avignon papacy and the Schism encouraged fundamental institutional changes in the governance of early modern Europe—effective centralization linked to fiscal policy, efficient bureaucratic governance, court society (société de cour), and conciliarism. This fascinating history of a misunderstood era will bring to life what it was like to live in the fourteenth-century capital of Christianity.

John Locke, whose ideas helped give birth to the United States, predicated his political theory on the Hebrew Bible. Why?