Abstract: Papal monarchy is a paradox, not a fact. Christianity has always drawn a firm line between church and state; yet the language of papal monarchy is inescapable in the high Middle Ages. It was also a time of fierce rivalry between the authority of kings and of popes and bishops. This book studies the way in which papal initiatives shaped the growth of church and society between 1050 and 1250, and the other elements which were shaping medieval ideas. The period was one that saw an increasingly international culture: religious orders such as Cluny, the Cistercians, Franciscans, and Dominicans spread far beyond local limits, and the crusades helped to define the culture of Christendom. The period also saw the clearer definition of the canon law of the church, the formulation of catholic theology in its later form, and thought about new social problems. The church also had to confront the threat of dissent and heresy. The year 1250 marks the stage when the French Capetian monarchy was replacing the previous influence of the German Hohenstaufen in Italy and when the great papal initiatives were coming to an end.

Keywords: bible, bishops, canon law, Christendom, church and state, crusades, England, France, Germany, gospels, Italy, papal monarchy, religious orders, rules, Sicily, theology