Church and Society in England, 1000-1500 - (Social History in Perspective) by Andrew Brown (Paperback)

About the Book

Although there was a gradual attempt throughout the medieval period to build a 'universal church' served by a 'community of the faithful', the laity were not always malleable or easily led into reform.

Book Synopsis

This book offers a fresh interpretation of the relationship between the church, society and religion across five centuries of change. Andrew Brown examines how the teachings of an increasingly universal Church were applied at a local level and how social change shaped the religious practices of the laity. His approach encompasses the structures of corporate religion, the devotional practices surrounding cults and saints, the effects of literacy (not least on the development of heresy), and how gender, class and political power affected and fragmented the expression of religion.

From the Back Cover

What impact did the Church have on society? How did social change affect religious practice? Within the context of these wide-ranging questions, this study offers a fresh interpretation of the relationship between Church, society and religion in England across five centuries of change.

Andrew Brown examines how the teachings of an increasingly 'universal' Church decisively affected the religious life of the laity in medieval England. However, by exploring a broad range of religious phenomena, both orthodox and heretical (including corporate religion and the devotional practices surrounding cults and saints) Brown shows how far lay people continued to shape the Church at a local level.

In the hands of the laity, religious practices proved malleable. Their expression was affected by social context, status and gender, and even influenced by those in authority. Yet, as Brown argues, religion did not function simply as an expression of social power - hierarchy, patriarchy and authority could be both served and undermined by religion. In an age in which social mobility and upheaval, particularly in the wake of the Black Death, had profound effects on religious attitudes and practices, Brown demonstrates that our understanding of late medieval religion should be firmly placed within this context of social change.

About the Author

ANDREW BROWN is Senior Lecturer in the School of History and Classics at the University of Edinburgh.
ANDREW BROWN is Senior Lecturer in the School of History and Classics at the University of Edinburgh.