The Latin Church in Norman Italy

This 2007 book examines the relationship between Norman rulers, south Italian churchmen and the new 'papal monarchy'.

G. A. Loud (Author)

9780521181488, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 February 2011

596 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.4 cm, 0.86 kg

Review of the hardback: 'This book's magisterial display of learning will make indispensable reading for all those interested in both the Norman kingdom and wider issues of continuity and change in the midst of the great transformative changes of eleventh- and twelfth-century Europe.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History

First published in 2007, this was the first significant study of the incorporation of the Church in southern Italy into the mainstream of Latin Christianity during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Professor G. A. Loud examines the relationship between Norman rulers, south Italian churchmen and the external influence of the new 'papal monarchy'. He discusses the impact of the creation of the new kingdom of Sicily in 1130; the tensions that arose from the papal schism of that era; and the religious policy and patronage of the new monarchs. He also explores the internal structures of the Church, both secular and monastic, and the extent and process of Latinisation within the Graecophone areas of the mainland and on the island of Sicily, where at the time of the Norman conquest the majority of the population was Muslim. This is a major contribution to the political, religious and cultural history of the Central Middle Ages.

Introduction
1. The Church in southern Italy before the Normans
2. The Church and the Norman conquest
3. The papacy and the rulers of southern Italy
4. The papacy and the Church in southern Italy
5. The Kings of Sicily and the Church
6. The Church and military obligation
7. The secular Church
8. Monasticism
9. Latins, Greeks and non-Christians
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Church history [HRCC2], Medieval history [HBLC1], European history [HBJD]