Historians typically single out the hundred-year period from about 1050 to 1150 as the pivotal moment in the history of the Latin Church, for it was then that the Gregorian Reform movement established the ecclesiastical structure that would ensure Rome’s dominance throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. In Before the Gregorian Reform John Howe challenges this familiar narrative by examining earlier, "pre-Gregorian" reform efforts within the Church. He finds that they were more extensive and widespread than previously thought and that they actually established a foundation for the subsequent Gregorian Reform movement. The low point in the history of Christendom came in the late ninth and early tenth centuries—a period when much of Europe was overwhelmed by barbarian raids and widespread civil disorder, which left the Church in a state of disarray. As Howe shows, however, the destruction gave rise to creativity. Aristocrats and churchmen rebuilt churches and constructed new ones, competing against each other so that church building, like castle building, acquired its own momentum. Patrons strove to improve ecclesiastical furnishings, liturgy, and spirituality. Schools were constructed to staff the new churches. Moreover, Howe shows that these reform efforts paralleled broader economic, social, and cultural trends in Western Europe including the revival of long-distance trade, the rise of technology, and the emergence of feudal lordship. The result was that by the mid-eleventh century a wealthy, unified, better-organized, better-educated, more spiritually sensitive Latin Church was assuming a leading place in the broader Christian world. Before the Gregorian Reform challenges us to rethink the history of the Church and its place in the broader narrative of European history. Compellingly written and generously illustrated, it is a book for all medievalists as well as general readers interested in the Middle Ages and Church history.

This fascinating collection of sources, translated for the first time in English and assembled in one accessible volume, show the startling impact of papal reform in the eleventh century and its consequences. An essential collection for students of medieval history.

Contents: Part One: (I) The Background; (II) The World of the Family: Genealogical Chart A: The Family of Bishop Hubert of Angers: Genealogical Chart B: The Family of Fulcherius the Rich of Vendome; Genealogical Chart C: The Family of Viscount Fulcradus of Vendome; Genealogical Chart D: The Family of the Viscounts of Le Mans Genealogical Chart E: The Houses of Belleme and Chateau-du-Loir; (III) The Political World; (IV) The Ecclesiastical World; (V) Conclusion. Part Two: Catalogue of Acts of Bishop Hubert of Angers; Introduction; Summary of the Contents of the Catalogue; Abbreviatons Used in Part II; The Catalogue; Index of Customs in Documents in Part II; Index of Ecclesiastical Rights; Index of Ecclesiastical Establishments in Documents in Part II; Index of Pesonal Names in Documents in Part II; Index of Place Names in Part II Documents; Correspondence to Other Catalogues. Bibliography.

For the third edition, this comprehensive history of the great heretical movements of the Middle Ages has been updated to take account of recent research in the field.

This work explores the role of canon law in the ecclesiastical reform movement of the eleventh century, commonly known as the Gregorian Reform. Focusing on the Collectio canonum of Bishop Anselm of Lucca, it explores how the reformers came to value and employ law as a means of achieving desired ends in a time of social upheaval and revolution.

"This book describes the roots of a set of ideals that effected a radical transformation of eleventh-century European society that led to the confrontation between church and monarchy known as the investiture struggle or Gregorian reform. Ideas cannot be divorced from reality, especially not in the Middle Ages. I present them, therefore, in their contemporary political, social, and cultural context."—from the Preface