The election of both Urban VI and Clement VII to the papacy in 1378, by the same body of cardinals, presented the church with an apparently insoluble constitutional difficulty. Dr Swanson examines the reaction to this situation from a hitherto unconsidered perspective: that of the universities to whom Europe turned to formulate the theories which would solve the problem. He examines the attempts by the academics to gain support for their various schemes and shows how these produced conflict at various levels: locally, between factions within individual universities; nationally, between rival...

This book presents a balanced account not only of the theoretical framework and legal complexities of the law of treason in later medieval France, but also of the extent and political context of that law's enforcement. By shedding some light on a larger issue - the interplay of law and politics, authority and power - the book contributes to our understanding of the French monarchy's efforts in the crucial fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to protect, extend and enforce its authority. The crown needed virtually all its judicial resources to cope with treason. Summary judgement and judgement...

This book examines the way in which the central English government dealt with Irish ecclesiastical matters from the time of the invasion and partial conquest of Ireland by Henry II in 1171 up to the Statute of Kilkenny. The struggle involved the king, the clergy in Ireland, both Irish and English, and the pope. Using manuscript material and printed sources, which have not been previously used for this purpose, Dr Watt shows how an attempt was made to 'colonize' Ireland by ecclesiastical means, and traces the changing fates and fortunes of the 'two nations' in their relations with one another....

This is the first detailed study of the career of one of the most important medieval archbishops of Canterbury. Robert Winchelsey sought to defend ecclesiastical rights and liberties at a time when the English Church was under constant pressure from the king and his government, and he suffered suspension from office as a result of his opposition to Edward I. The theme of the book is the relationship of this learned and saintly archbishop with the Crown during the last troubled years of Edward I's reign and the first equally troubled years of Edward II's reign.