This lavishly illustrated book looks at the art and architecture of
episcopal palaces as expressions of power and ideology. Tracing the
history of the bishop's residence in the urban centers of northern
Italy over the Middle Ages, Maureen C. Miller asks why this once
rudimentary and highly fortified structure called a domus became a
complex and elegant "palace" (palatium) by the late twelfth
century.
Miller argues that the change reflects both the emergence of a
distinct clerical culture and the attempts of bishops to maintain
authority in public life. She relates both to the Gregorian reform
movement, which set new standards for clerical deportment and at
the same time undercut to secular power. As bishops lost temporal
authority in their cities to emerging communal governments, they
compensated architecturally and competed with the communes for
visual and spatial dominance in the urban center. This rivalry left
indelible marks on the layout and character of Italian cities.
Moreover, Miller contends, this struggle for power had highly
significant, but mixed, results for western Christianity. On the
one hand, as bishops lost direct governing their cities, they
devised ways to retain status, influence, and power through
cultural practices. This response to loss was highly, creative. On
the other hand, their loss of secular control led bishops to
emphasize their spiritual powers and to use them to obtain temporal
ends. The coercive use of spiritual authority contributed to the
emergence of a "persecuting society" in the central Middle
Ages.
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