Shepherds of the Lord: Priests and Episcopal Statutes in the Carolingian Period (Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Volume 6) by Carine van Rhijn - 2007

Brepols Publishers, 2007. 1st. hardcover. New. 104x14x153.

Hardback. New.

Brepols Publishers, 2007. Hardcover. New. 246 pages. 9.50x6.50x1.00 inches.

Turnhout Brepols 2007. Hardback, VIII+246 p., 6 b/w tables, 160 x 240 mm. ISBN 9782503523194. This book is the first study of the rural priesthood, its significance, and the statutes written for them in the time of the Carolingians. It seeks to trace and explain the rise and emergence in the Carolingian period of both local priests and episcopal statutes that aimed at steering their behaviour. It was in the context of Carolingian ideals of reform, formulated in court-centred circles from the late eighth century onwards, that local priests increasingly came to be seen as those that held the key to turning the local Frankish population into ideal Christians by their word and living example. First of all, however, these educators needed to be educated themselves, hence the emergence of the Episcopal statutes, a new tool to direct the local diocesan clergy into becoming the ideal 'Shepherds of the Lord' that they needed to be. Smooth as this process of empire-wide reform theoretically was,… Read More