Canon Law, Careers and Conquest: Episcopal Elections in Normandy and Greater Anjou, c.1140c.1230 [Hardcover]

A study of the politics of episcopal elections in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Normandy and Greater Anjou.A study of the politics of episcopal elections in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Normandy and Greater Anjou that brings together legal theory and practice, local custom and politics. J?rg Peltzer examines each election in context and compares electoral practices in Normandy and Greater Anjou before and after the Capetian conquest.A study of the politics of episcopal elections in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Normandy and Greater Anjou that brings together legal theory and practice, local custom and politics. J?rg Peltzer examines each election in context and compares electoral practices in Normandy and Greater Anjou before and after the Capetian conquest.This book is a study of the politics of episcopal elections in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Normandy and Greater Anjou. This was a crucial period in the development of canon law and J?rg Peltzer offers the first analysis to bring together legal theory and practice, local custom, and politics. He explores the development of electoral theories and examines each election in context, offering insights into the varying balance of royal, papal and regional baronial power and the various career paths leading to an episcopal see. He shows how different systems of patronage worked, to what extent they were vehicles of social mobility, and how aristocratic families were structured. By comparing electoral practices in Normandy and Greater Anjou before and after the Capetian conquest the book significantly enhances our understanding of the theory and practice of canon law, local politics in Normandy and Anjou, and the high politics at the Capetian and Angevin courts.List of maps; List of tables; Preface; Editorial note; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. Electoral theory; 3. Electoral practice: Normandy; 4. Electoral practice: Greater Anjou; 5. The episcopacy in Normandy and Greater Anjou; 6. The impact of lsq