The Crisis of Church and State 1050-1300, Vol. 21 Book

I really liked this book. The only down side to it, in my opinion, was that Tierney should have spent more time explaining the political issues and consequences of the times, rather than simply cutting and pasting in the source material from the kings, popes, etc. Not that I didn't appreciate reading the first-hand accounts from these sources, but it was kind of distracting. Maybe an appendix or two at the end would have sufficed for all the sources.

If there is one thing I got out of this book, it is this: the popes of Christendom have never really ruled over the kings. They might have had some pretty strong influence at times, but ecclesiocracy has never really been an issue. But what about kingly and statist influences in the Church? Definitely. Papalism has never really been a political force to be too concerned with (that is, unless you are a minority religious group in opposition to the Papal see); but statism has always been a problem for the Church. Many kings of the earth have sought control over our Mother Kirk.