This book offers a unique overview on the career and work on Benedict XII, the third pope of Avignon. Benedict XII (ca. 1334-1342) was a key figure of the Avignon papal court, renowned for rooting out heretics and distinguishing himself as a refined theologian. During his reign, he faced the most significant religious and political challenges in the era of the Avignon papacy: theological quarrels, divisions and schisms within the Church, conflicts between European sovereigns, and the growth of Turkish power in the East. In spite of its diminished political influence, the papacy, which had recently moved to France, emerged as an institution committed to the defense and expansion of the Catholic faith in Europe and the East. Benedict made significant contributions to the definition of doctrine, the assessment of pontifical power in Western Europe, and the expansion of Catholicism in the East: in all these different contexts he distinguished himself as a true guardian of orthodoxy.

First modern study devoted to one of the twelfth-century's most enigmatic, influential and fascinating figures. Henry of Blois (d. 1171) was a towering figure in twelfth-century England. Grandson of William the Conqueror and brother to King Stephen, he played a central role in shaping the course of the civil war that characterized his brother's reign. Bishop of Winchester and abbot of Glastonbury for more than four decades, Henry was one of the richest men in the kingdom, and effectively governed the English Church for a time as Papal Legate. Raised and tonsured at Cluny, he was an intimate friend of Peter the Venerable and later saved the great abbey from financial ruin. Towards the end of his life he presided, albeit reluctantly, over the trial of Thomas Becket. Henry was a remarkable man: an administrator of exceptional talent, a formidable ecclesiastical statesman, a bold and eloquent diplomat, and twelfth-century England's most prolific patron of the arts. In the first major book-length study of Henry to be published since 1932, nine scholars explore new perspectives on the most crucial aspects of his life and legacy. By bringing ecclesiastical and documentary historians together with archaeologists and historians of art, architecture, literature and ideas, this interdisciplinary collection will serve as a catalyst for renewed study of this fascinating man and the world in which he operated.

New research into petitions and petitioning in the middle ages, illuminating aspects of contemporary law and justice. The mechanics, politics and culture of petitioning in the middle ages are examined in this innovative collection. In addition to important and wide-ranging examinations of the ancient world and the medieval papacy, it focuses particularly on petitions to the English crown in the later middle ages, drawing on a major collection of documents made newly accessible to research in the National Archives. A series of studies explores the political contexts of petitioning, the broad geographical and social range of petitioners, and the fascinating "worm's-eye" view of medieval life that is uniquely offered by petitions themselves; and particular attention is given to the performative qualities of petitioning and its place in the culture of royal intercession. With their vivid new insights into judicial conventions and the legal creativity spawned by political crisis, these papers provide a closely integrated assessment of current scholarship and new research on these most fascinating and revealing of medieval social texts. CONTRIBUTORS: W. MARK ORMROD, GWILYM DODD, SERENA CONNOLLY, BARBARA BOMBI, PATRICK ZUTSHI, PAUL BRAND, GUILHEM PEPIN, ANTHONY MUSSON, SIMON J. HARRIS, SHELAGH A. SNEDDON, DAVID CROOK

This volume is concerned with diplomacy between England and the papal curia during the first phase of the Anglo-French conflict known as the Hundred Years' War (1305-1360). On the one hand, Barbara Bombi compares how the practice of diplomacy, conducted through both official and unofficial diplomatic communications, developed in England and at the papal curia alongside the formation of bureaucratic systems. On the other hand, she questions how the Anglo-French conflict and political change during the reigns of Edward II and Edward III impacted on the growth of diplomatic services both in England and the papal curia. Through the careful examination of archival and manuscript sources preserved in English, French, and Italian archives, this book argues that the practice of diplomacy in fourteenth-century Europe nurtured the formation of a "shared language of diplomacy". The latter emerged from the need to "translate" different traditions thanks to the adaptation of house-styles, formularies, and ceremonial practices as well as through the contribution of intermediaries and diplomatic agents acquainted with different diplomatic and legal traditions. This argument is mostly demonstrated in the second part of the book, where the author examines four relevant case studies: the papacy's move to France after the election of Pope Clement V (1305) and the succession of Edward II to the English throne (1307); Anglo-papal relations between the war of St Sardos (1324) and the deposition of Edward II in 1327; the outbreak of the Hundred Years' Wars in 1337; and lastly the conclusion of the first phase of the war, which was marked in 1360 by the agreement between England and France known as the Treaty of Bretigny-Calais.