Cathedrals, Communities and Conflict in the Anglo-Norman World

The true importance of cathedrals during the Anglo-Norman period is here brought out, through an examination of the most important aspects of their history.

The true importance of cathedrals during the Anglo-Norman period is here brought out, through an examination of the most important aspects of their history.

Cathedrals dominated the ecclesiastical (and physical) landscape of the British Isles and Normandy in the middle ages; yet, in comparison with the history of monasteries, theirs has received significantly less attention. This volume helps to redress the balance by examining major themes in their development between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. These include the composition, life, corporate identity and memory of cathedral communities; the relationships, sometimes supportive, sometimes conflicting, that they had with kings (e.g. King John), aristocracies, and neighbouring urban and religious communities; the importance of cathedrals as centres of lordship and patronage; their role in promoting and utilizing saints' cults (e.g. that of St Thomas Becket); episcopal relations; and the involvement of cathedrals in religious and political conflicts, and in the settlement of disputes. A critical introduction locates medieval cathedrals in space and time, and against a backdrop of wider ecclesiastical change in the period.

Contributors: Paul Dalton, Charles Insley, Louise J. Wilkinson, Ann Williams, C.P. Lewis, RichardAllen, John Reuben Davies, Thomas Roche, Stephen Marritt, Michael Staunton, Sheila Sweetinburgh, Paul Webster, Nicholas Vincent

Introduction - Paul Dalton and Charles Insley and Louise J. Wilkinson
The Dangers of Invention: The Sack of Canterbury, 1011, and the 'Theft' of Dunstan's Relics - Ann Williams
Remembering Communities Past: Exeter Cathedral in the Eleventh Century - Charles Insley
Communities, Conflict, and Episcopal Policy in the Diocese of Lichfield, 1050-1150 - C P Lewis
TheActa archiepiscoporum Rotomagensium and Urban Ecclesiastical Rivalry in Eleventh-Century Rouen - Richard Allen
Cathedrals and the Cult of Saints in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Wales - John Reuben Davies
A Bishop and His Conflicts: Philip of Bayeux [1142-63] - Thomas Roche
Ecclesiastical Responses to War in King Stephen's Reign: The Communities of Selby Abbey, Pontefract Priory and York Cathedral - Paul Dalton
Secular Cathedrals and the Anglo-Norman Aristocracy - Stephen Marritt
The Lives of Thomas Becket and the Church of Canterbury - Michael Staunton
Caught in the Cross-Fire: Patronage and Institutional Politics in Late Twelfth-Century Canterbury - Sheila Sweetinburgh
Crown, Cathedral, and Conflict: King John and Canterbury - Paul Webster
The English Monasteries and their French Possessions - Nicholas Vincent