Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0750919477, Paperback)

This is the only book to study the relations of the papacy to England from the conversion of England by St. Augustine in 597 to the eve of the Reformation. Including within its span the early Celtic church, the book deals in narrative style with the diplomatic, political and social developments which saw both the centralisation of power in the hands of the Popes and the strengthening of nationalism in England. At a tiome when the balance of European power was often in the hands of the papacy, relations between king, bishop and Rome were of immense importance.

Decisions about episcopal appointments and the behaviour and training of the clergy were constantly causing rifts between England and Rome, and England's view of itself as a nation within Europe was often at odds with the relative importance the country was accorded by the Holy See.All the contributors to this collection are leading scholars in their field, and they bring immense learning to their chapters whilst maintaining a clarity and accessibility seldom encountered in such writing.

This book will be essential reading for students of medieval and ecclesiastical history and for all those interested in the development of the papacy and its effects on English history, both secular and religious.