Customer Reviews

Pope and Bishops: Study of the Papal Monarchy in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (The Middle Ages)

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I disagree with the former review. Pennington's description of the papal government and law is thorough and simple enough for students to comprehend. The first chapter "Innocent and the Divine Autority of the Pope" is an important source. Innocent III was the first pope to regard himself as vicar of Christ. He established an important tradition of political thought in which the pope's authority was catagorized into 2 types: those powers that were human and those that were divine. The author discusses Inoccent's view of the law and government along with the other popes of the era, and important canonists like Huguccio.
Compared to Walter Ullman's study - "The Growth of Papal Government in the Middle Ages" - Pennington's is a fresh breath of air. Want people to bang their heads and jump out the window? Let them read Ullman...

Pennington has fanned an arid wind over a dry topic. Heads were banging on desks when we discussed this in my senior history seminar. Nevertheless, the second chapter is comendable for its brevity.