Christianity and the Church in Post-Conquest England

by

Joel Rosenthal

• LAST REVIEWED: 31 March 2016
• LAST MODIFIED: 31 March 2016
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0019

Introduction

The history of Christianity and of the church (and its flock) has been a rich field for scholarly endeavor almost from the time the faith became established in the 7th and 8th centuries. This article deals with the church in the centuries between the Norman Conquest (1066) and what we generally consider the end of the Middle Ages and of medieval Christianity (1500). It stops short of the Henrician Reformation of the 1530s, but it does consider the “old faith” in its last century of dominance. The citations in this bibliography are meant as advisory, with no attempt at complete coverage. Many works cited here may also be listed in a different Oxford Bibliographies article or even in more than one. The focus is primarily on the church as an institution, with attention to the major categories of church-related writing. Insofar as the sources for ecclesiastical history have been generally viewed as literature, they are not included in this entry, nor is much of the voluminous philosophical and theological writing of the post-Conquest period. There are other Oxford Bibliographies articles that cover aspects of the topic not treated here or not treated as extensively as they deserve. A general article on “Post-Conquest England” gives some background, and Oxford Bibliographies articles on “Benedictines after 1100,” “Canon Law,” and “Christian Mysticism” expand the horizons of this article.

Bibliographies

Regular publications such as the annual International Medieval Bibliography from the University of Leeds or Bibliography of British and Irish History (Royal Historical Society 1976–), offer current bibliographies, sometimes with editorial comments and criticisms. The journals listed here run bibliographies as part of their regular features, concentrating on publications of the previous year or two. In addition to a regular survey of scholarly articles and shorter publications, the English Historical Review carries extensive reviews; the bibliographies of the Economic History Review are arranged topically and chronologically and are of value, though ecclesiastical history is not the journal’s main focus. The Catholic Historical Review offers a list of recent publications on many areas of ecclesiastical history. For singe-volume coverage, the extensive bibliography of Graves 1975 was quite comprehensive, though its age is now beginning to show. It remains very useful for older publications and for scholarly work on primary sources and local history.

• Catholic Historical Review. 1915–.

  A scholarly journal that offers a regular bibliography of periodical literature, with sections on both “general and miscellaneous” publications and on those treating the Middle Ages.

• Economic History Review. 1927–.

  The annual bibliographies do not focus directly on ecclesiastical history but contain some works of interest to the field. The bibliography does cover publications of the many local historical societies.

• English Historical Review. 1885–.

  The oldest of English-language scholarly historical journals, with a regular survey of articles and short publications in the July issue. Also, many books are reviewed in every issue.

• Graves, Edgar, ed. A Bibliography of English History to 1485. Oxford: Clarendon, 1975.

  Designed to update Charles Gross’s 1915 volume; post-Conquest ecclesiastical history is covered on pages 750–897, and relevant material is found in many other sections. A comprehensive volume, although increasingly dated.

• International Medieval Bibliography. 1968–.

  Compiled and edited at the University of Leeds and the most comprehensive annual survey of scholarly work; material on the post-Conquest church in England appears in a number of sections.

• Royal Historical Society. Bibliography of British and Irish History. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1976–.

  Created by the Royal Historical Society as an electronic database and published by Brepols. The section “Religious Beliefs and Practices, 1066–1500” covers much of what has appeared in the previous year or two.