The Crisis of Church & State 1050-1300

by Brian Tierney

A clear narrative that presents and interprets the major documents of the centuries-long struggle between kings and popes of medieval Europe over the separation of church and state. Few controversies have so indelibly influenced the course of western civilization.

Genres: History, Religion, Politics, Nonfiction, Medieval History, Academic, School

210 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Tierney is definitely becoming one of my favorite medievalists, and this book is a fascinating read for anyone at all interested in church/state relations during the Middle Ages (and, honestly, anyone interested in the Middle Ages at all).

Tierney starts his work with the observation that - unlike a lot of other world civilizations - medieval Europe was never really a theocracy. Lots of societies, realizing that force is insufficient in the long term to control a group, wind up as theocratic states, as their religious observations grow up along with the state structure. Christianity, however, originated as minority group within a mature Roman Empire, and this led to the establishment of two alternate sources of power and authority - the papacy and the empire. Tierney starts with this concept and works his way through about 1300 years of thought on precisely how these two spheres should be positioned or how they should interact. He touches on Augustine, Gelasius, the deposition of Childeric and the coronation of Charlemagne and the rise of sacred kingship in the 9th and 10th centuries. The second section deals with the Investiture Controversy (at its simplest level, whether the Church or the Empire got to appoint bishops) and the related rhetoric and argumentation over whether kings or popes could depose each other. Tierney then moves on to the effects of growing legal culture on the debate by the twelfth century and the rise of nation states (based on the political theories of Aristotle) in the 13th.

The book is pretty much an annotated source book - Each chapter is prefaced by a few pages of historical context and analysis, and then Tierney presents translations from the most relevant and informative sources on his subject. All in all, a really great introduction to the subject. My only complaint is that I wish it was a bit more comprehensive - it covers 1300 or so years in about 200 pages, so some sections fly by a bit too quickly.

[Cliff Dailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tierney gives medieval readers an excellent, moderate analysis on ecclesio-political dynamics between the books parameters. He tempers the conservative and liberal reader alike.

[Luke Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Tierney for making it so easy to read about a 374,937, 284 papal decretals all from one bind. Some better than others, and after a while they can get a bit samey; there's only so many times you can claim spiritual and temporal dominion over all believers and infidels, but there are some excellent analogies and letters involved in these too. Good read for insight, it's always nice reading snippets as primaries rather than great, big, roaring discourses and treatises; refreshing, in a way.

[Becca Edney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive overview with translations of the key texts. I appreciated the format choice to have explanations of the events and key players before the extracts, to give some context.

[Yash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ironically probably played a role in me leaving Catholicism, super interesting stuff though for anyone interested (why you’d be interested in the political goings on of medieval Christendom, barring being a tradcath, I have no idea but go for it).
Didn’t read the whole thing at the time though, dropped because now that I’m not Catholic I don’t really care about this time in history.

[Chris Comis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The only down side to it, in my opinion, was that Tierney should have spent more time explaining the political issues and consequences of the times, rather than simply cutting and pasting in the source material from the kings, popes, etc. Not that I didn't appreciate reading the first-hand accounts from these sources, but it was kind of distracting. Maybe an appendix or two at the end would have sufficed for all the sources.

If there is one thing I got out of this book, it is this: the popes of Christendom have never really ruled over the kings. They might have had some pretty strong influence at times, but ecclesiocracy has never really been an issue. But what about kingly and statist influences in the Church? Definitely. Papalism has never really been a political force to be too concerned with (that is, unless you are a minority religious group in opposition to the Papal see); but statism has always been a problem for the Church. Many kings of the earth have sought control over our Mother Kirk.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A judicious selection of primary materials and some fine interstitial prose make this one of the better sourcebooks of its kind.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mix of primary source material with contextual information and commentary.

[Gerald Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative book for the period. Loved it.

[Mick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that explores, using various primary source examples, the growing conflict between the Church and the states throughout Europe in the early Middle ages.