Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages (The Penguin History of the Church) (v. 2) [Paperback]

R. W. Southern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 1990

The history of the Western church in the Middle Ages is the history of the most elaborate and thoroughly integrated system of religious thought and practice the world has ever known. It is also the history of European society during eight hundred years of sometimes rapid change. This authoritative history shows how the concept of an organized human society, both religious and secular, as an expression of a divinely ordered universe, was central to medieval thought. Professor R. W. Southern's book covers the period from the eighth to the sixteenth century, highlighting the main features of each medieval age and studying the Papacy, the relations between Rome and her rival Constantinople, the bishops and archbishops and the various religious orders in detail, providing a superb study of the period.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sir Richard Southern (1912-2001) was an expert on the medieval church and author of the renowned text, The Making of the Middle Ages. He taught at Oxford and was President of St John's College there. He was knighted in 1974.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (August 16, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140137556
• ISBN-13: 978-0140137552
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #235,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Church and State in the Middle Ages, February 11, 2001

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"t-hetrick" (Poughkeepsie, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages (The Penguin History of the Church) (v. 2) (Paperback)

R.W. Southern's book is the second in a series of seven on the history of the Church. It begins with Pope Gregory II in the early eighth century and traces the development of the Church to the beginning of Henry VIII's reign in the early sixteenth century. Southern's emphasis is on the relationship between the Church as a religious institution and the political institutions of the Middle Ages, giving little attention to the Church's spiritual and theological components. The bulk of this volume covers the East-West schism of 1054, the papacy, the archbishops and bishops, and the various religious orders of this period. This book is scholarly in its approach, yet writtten in a very readable style. It gave me a much better understanding of the complex interactions between the Church and state during this period. I can recommend this volume to anyone interested in learning more about this era.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb treatment of the subject!, August 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages (The Penguin History of the Church) (v. 2) (Paperback)

What Southern attempts is daunting, to say the least: In 360 pages, he seeks to analyze how the church and society interacted during the entire 700-year period of the Middle Ages. And he has done a superb job of it. His book is comprehenisive without sounding platitudinous nor mired in detail, subtle without being rarefied. Another reviewer criticizes him for not giving enough attention to spiritual and theological aspects of the Middles Ages. The first part of this criticism is flatly false--the spiritual, insofar as they interact with society, abound in the book--and the second part is unwarranted, since Southern states in his first chapter that theological discussion lies outside the purview of the book. The reviewer, however, is correct in saying that it's a highly readable book. If you love church history--or want to learn how it should be written--this is a book you can't miss.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good book, terrible printing, September 18, 2004

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Rudolf Schmidt (San Diego) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages (The Penguin History of the Church) (v. 2) (Paperback)

This is a good book, although I would not recommend it as an introduction to the subject. If you're not already familiar with the characters and events to some degree, you'll just be lost, because he doesn't refer to specifics too often. It deals in generalizations and large sweeps. And it's no good for research for the same reason. What it's good for is in helping those of us who already have some familiarity with the subject to see it in a new way, and to draw connections that probably escaped us. The value of the book is in the perspective of an accomplished and perceptive expert that it provides.

Sadly, the quality of the printing in this Penguin edition is absolutely deplorable. It is the worst I have ever seen. It looks like a bad photocopy. Apparently Penguin is too cheap to reset the type, and is using plates that should have been thrown out long ago. Buy a used copy. Don't patronize Penguin for producing such a shoddy product.