THL303: Introduction to Church History: Decline & Reform of the Church

A lucid, concise, and authoritative exposition of feudal institutions prevalent in western Europe from the ninth to the thirteen century.

Translation of Die mittelalterliche Kirche, part 1, Vom kirchlichen Frühmittelalter zur gregorianischen Reform.

The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Reformation, and the Renaissance popes may conjure in the imagination a corrupt Roman Catholic clergy hungry for wealth and power. In this insightful, well researched work, the Vatican's chief historian, Fr. Walter Brandmuller, takes a thoughtful and understanding look at these and other important chapters in Church history.

Contents: The golden city. Rome, A.D. 900 ; The lord of Rome ; Donation of Constantine -- The house of Theophylact. Marozia : senatrix of Rome (926-932) ; Octavian : Pope John XII (955-963) ; Theophylact : Pope Benedict IX (1032-1046) -- The lord of Europe. Benedict Gaetani : Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) -- The wandering pope. Bartolomeo Prignano : Pope Urban VI (1378-1389) -- The Spanish bull. Rodrigo Borgia : Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) -- The golden age. Giovanni de' Medici : Pope Leo X (1513-1521) -- The last day of Italy. Giuliu de' Medici : Pope Clement VII (1523-1534)

Herald of a future third age (status) for mankind, the medieval abbot Joachim of Fiore (d. 1202) attracted and affected many individuals from Dante to Columbus. This book concentrates on the beginning of the story: it proves Joachim intended that he and his own order of monks, the Florensians, were to initiate the beginning of the third age. Using a variety of documents, Stephen Wessley uncovers Joachim's motivations when he broke away from the Cistercian monks to found his own reformed monastic group. Joachim's intended role for his Florensian monks, to be initiators of the new age, Wessley argues, was preserved by them well after Joachim's death. Drawing on manuscript evidence, the author traces this Florensian ideology through a period of major crises in the order to its appropriation by Franciscans.

Contents: Introduction / Guy Fitch Lytle -- The beginnings of the Gregorian reform : some new manuscript evidence / Uta-Renate Blumenthal -- Innocent the III, Gregory IX, and political crusades : a study in the disintegration of Papal power / Elizabeth T. Kennan-- Franciscus Zabarella (1360-1417) : Papacy, community, and limitations upon authority / Thomas E. Morrissey -- Sacred doctrine and the authority of scripture in Canonistic thought on the eve of the Reformation / Hermann Schuessler -- Universities as religious authorities in the later Middle Ages and Reformation / Guy Fitch Lytle -- The fifth Lateran Council : its partial successes and its larger faliures / Richard J. Schoeck -- Incipiat Iudicium a Domo Domini : the fifth Lateran Council and the reform of Rome / Nelson H. Minnich -- Reforming the Roman Curia : Emperor Ferdinand I and the Council of Trent / Robert Trisco

A collection of manuscript studies, analyses, and their interpretations which previously appeared in various journals.

In this book the renowned medievalist G.R. Evans provides a concise introduction to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), a figure of towering importance on the twelfth-century monastic and theological scene. After a brief overview of Bernard's life, Evans focuses on a few major themes in his work, including his theology of spirituality and his theology of the political life of the Church. The only available introduction to Bernard's life and thought, this latest addition to the Great Medieval Thinkers series will appeal to a wide audience of students and scholars of history and theology.