In the Middle Ages Italy was one of the most diversified regions in Europe. The Italian and German authors of this volume look at the integrating and des-integrating role of the Papacy in the heterogeneous Italy of the Early and High Middle Ages. Their main source is the Italia Pontificia, the first volume of which was published in 1906. They draw a balance of what has been achieved so far, outline requirements for future research and offer exemplary, novel methods and questions that can be applied to the extensive material of the Italia Pontificia.

This volume is the first comparative study of the political tools employed by the Popes and the perception of the Papacy in different regions, so combining the perspectives of the Roman center and that of the churches on the periphery. The Roman view of the means by which it exerted its influence over the Church is set against the reaction of the various regions to them. In this way the discrepancy between Roman prototypes and actual interpretations from the mid-11th to the end of the 12th century is further enhanced by the differences revealed by contrasting regional sketches.

From the middle of the 11th century to Pope Innocent III (1198 1216), the Latin Church developed into a European-wide Papal Church, with a strong hierarchy focused on Rome. Retrospectively, this historical development appears to have proceeded according to a preconceived plan. In reality, however as illuminated in this work it was driven by a complex process of give and take between Rome and the regions."

This study is the first extensive scholarly treatise on the Chapter of St. Peter s in the Vatican since the 18th century. It analyzes the statutes of the Chapter, its prosopographical composition as well as the relationship to the popes. The appendix contains concise biographies of the canons and an edition of the two oldest interest registers of the Chapter of St. Peter s. A comparison with the chapters of St. Giovanni in Laterano and St. Maria Maggiore reveals the outstanding position of the Chapter of St. Peter s with respect to the structure of the city and to the Curia."