Noble lord, good shepherd : Episcopal power and piety in Aquitaine, 877-1050 / / by Anna Trumbore Jones.

• Superior document: Brill's series on the early Middle Ages, v. 17
• Author: Jones, Anna Trumbore.
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Brill's series on the early Middle Ages ; v. 17.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (276 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The bishop was a figure of unparalleled importance in the tenth and eleventh centuries, as he married the advantages of his noble birth to the sacramental and pastoral role of bishop, drawing upon the resultant range of powers to intervene in all areas of life. Scholarship on the episcopate in this period, however, has tended to cluster around two themes: the role of bishops in the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and the critiques of these bishops levied by certain church reformers. This book moves beyond these subjects and examines the full scope of bishops’ activities in southwest France, as they ruled their cathedrals, interacted with lay powers, patronized religious communities, and wrestled with the complex nature of their office.

Table of Contents

In bishops we honor or deny the Lord -- Ad locum sanctum, ad stipendia fratrum : the bishop and his cathedral -- If the count should send a bishop : lay authority and the bishops of Aquitaine -- Episcopal authority at religious communities -- Episcopal foundation, restoration, and reform of religious houses -- Aiding the servants of faith : bishops and donations to religious houses -- Ideals of episcopal power in tenth-century Aquitaine.