Local Production, Administration, and Reception of Medieval Canon Law

These nine essays, written by leading experts in the field, focus on the production and application of canon law at the local level. This broad theme
permits many subjects to be explored: canonical collections produced in a particular locale by key figures in that area; local manuscript copies of
widespread texts; administrative usages and canonical rules for churches within a certain area; specific synodal decrees important to regional ecclesiastical activity and governance; and the reception and adaptation of canonical norms and rules in a particular diocese or other venue. These studies collectively deepen our appreciation of the importance of canon law for people in their home churches and regions. They help us understand canon law in its decentralized, non-papally administered forms, across the full temporal range of the Middle Ages. The special value of these works lies in illuminating the pragmatic role of particular circumstances in adapting the church’s tradition in order to be relevant and to meet local needs.

Steven A. Schoenig, SJ is associate professor of history at Saint Louis University and the author of Bonds of Wool: The Pallium and Papal Power in the Middle Ages. Abner E. Chacon is a Ph.D. student in medieval history at Saint Louis University. Thomas M. Izbicki is the author of Ministry to the Sick and Dying in the Late Medieval Church. Anders Winroth is Professor of History at the University of Oslo.