Yale University Library Research Guides: Medieval Christianity: Religion &amp; Society

Politics

Authority and Power in the Medieval Church, 1000-1500 by Thomas W. Smith (Editor) Reveals how clerical claims to authority and power were frequently debated, refined, opposed, and resisted in their expression and implementation.
The Two Powers: The Papacy, the Empire, and the Struggle for Sovereignty in the Thirteenth Century by Brett Edward Whalen Looks at the papacies of Gregory IX (1227-1241) and Innocent IV (1243-1254). A new history of this combative relationship between the thirteenth-century papacy and empire.
Christendom and Christianity in the Middle Ages: The Relations Between Religion, Church, and Society by Adriaan H. Bredero; Diana L. Beitzel (Translator) Begins with an overview of religion and the church in medieval society, from the early Christianization of Western Europe through the fifteenth century.

Church and People in the Medieval West, 900-1200 by Sarah Hamilton Gets to the root of belief in the Middle Ages, covering topics including pastoral reform, popular religion, monasticism, heresy and much more, throughout the central middle ages from 900-1200.
The Laity in the Middle Ages: Religious Beliefs and Devotional Practices by André Vauchez Explores the religious beliefs and devotional practices of laypeople in medieval Europe and grapples with some of the most difficult issues in medieval history: the nature of popular devotion, the role of religion in civic life, the sociology of religious attitudes and practices, and the relationship between the intersecting spheres of lay and clerical culture.
Medieval Christianity in Practice by Miri Rubin (Editor) A look at the religious practices of the European Middle Ages. Comprising 42 selections from primary source materials--each translated with an introduction and commentary--the collection illustrates the religious cycles, rituals, and experiences that gave meaning to medieval Christian individuals and communities.
Medieval Popular Religion, 1000-1500 by John Shinners A collection of 82 sources that casts light on the beliefs and practices of ordinary Christians in the Middle Ages whose religious lives have often been overlooked by historians and theologians.

Equally in God's Image: Women in the Middle Ages by Julia B. Holloway
Promised Bodies: Time, Language, & Corporeality in Medieval Women's Mystical Texts by Patricia Dailey Crossing linguistic and historical boundaries, Patricia Dailey connects the embodied poetics of Hadewijch's visions, writings, and letters to the work of Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Marguerite of Oingt, and other mystics and visionaries. She establishes new criteria to more consistently understand and assess the singularity of women's mystical texts.
Sex, Gender, and Episcopal Authority in an Age of Reform, 1000-1122 by Megan McLaughlin Examines the debates over ecclesiastical reform a new perspective. It argues that the images they used - of bishops as husbands of their sees, of the laity as the sons of Mother Church, and of the pope as father of bishops - were shaped not only by intellectual and ritual traditions, but also by contemporary ideas about sexuality and gender.