Monks and Church Law in Medieval Italy, c.1000 - c.1140

The monograph is a study of the relationship of monks and Church law in Italy in the eleventh and early twelfth centuries that brings together two fundamental elements of medieval history that have not been systematically investigated as having an impact on each other. Whilst medieval monasteries have long been acknowledged as having an important role in the preservation and transmission of literary, historical and other records, their role in reading, extending and even compiling collections of law -ostensibly books for use by bishops and cathedral clergy- for a range of pedagogical, practical, ideological and even pastoral reasons has received almost no attention. Centres of Law? Monks and Church Law in Italy in the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, is underpinned by the close study of manuscripts either produced in Italian monasteries or held in Italian monastic libraries in the eleventh and early twelfth centuries. It will revolutionize our understanding of the nature of the study and use of law during this important formative period in the development of the Western legal tradition before the professionalization of legal studies in the schools at Bologna and elsewhere from the second half of the twelfth century. Through several cases studies, the author argues that far from Church law being the province of bishops and cathedral clergy, 'centres of law' were emerging in some Italian monasteries with ambitions beyond immediately local or practical concerns.