Popes and Antipopes: The Politics of Eleventh Century Church Reform (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9789004217010)

A revolution shook the Christian world in the second half of the eleventh century. Many eminent historians point to Hildebrand, later Gregory VII (1073-1085), as the prime mover of this movement that aspired to free the Church from secular entanglements, and to return it to its state of paleochristian purity. I see the reform from the perspective of much wider developments such as the split between the Greek and the Latin Churches and the Norman infiltration of Southern Italy. Contentrating on the popes and the antipopes I delve into the character and motivations of the important personae, and do not see the movement as a smooth line of progress. I see the outcome as reversal of power of what had been a strong empire and a weak papacy.

Author: Mary Stroll
ISBN-10: 9004217010
ISBN-13: 9789004217010
Publisher: Brill
Language: English
Published: 12/09/2011
Pages: 266
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.36lbs
Size: 9.70h x 6.10w x 0.80d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 04/01/2012 pg. 15