Customer Reviews

The English Church & the Papacy in the Middle Ages (Sutton Illustrated History Paperbacks)

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This is a modern classic that is still a model of good scholarship and lucid and urbane exposition after 44 years. It is dated in some matters of detail, but not in its broad outline, and the updated bibliographies will help readers keep up to date.

C.H. Lawrence has done an excellent job of editing this book which is about the complex relationship between the English Monarchy-Church and the Papacy in Rome. The authors in this book write about the often severe relationship between England and the Papacy in an excellent and interesting prose that makes this complex subject easy to read.

Beginning with the mission of St. Augustine in 597 A.D. to convert the "pagan" celts, picts, etc to the eve of the Reformation the essays in this work describe the fascinating journey that the Catholic Church took in England. The relationships between the English Kings and the Catholic Church in England was often very severe and at times bloody (for instance Thomas Becket), yet for a number of centuries, the Catholic Church was supreme in English affairs of state and diplomacy. Yet, England was always questioning Rome's interference in its internal and external affairs, until finally Henry VIII broke off relations with Rome and began the Church Of England.

Overall, this is a very interesting read and is highly recommended to all who are interested in English Medieval History as well as Church Historians.