R.A. Markus, Gregory the Great and His World, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) paperback, $23. NEW. Some have called Gregory (d.604) the first medieval pope. Like his medieval successors, Gregory was an able local administrator who repaired Rome’s aqueducts and fended off barbarian invaders; he also saw the papacy in a world-wide perspective, offering sage pastoral guidance to Christians in North Africa and initiating the great Christian mission to England. He also lived in a world that was falling apart: an empire collapsing around him, an Italy devastated by the Black Plague. He saw himself as pope for the endtimes—and spoke movingly of the meaning of suffering in his magisterial sermons on the Book of Job. This is the first full-length study of Gregory since F.H. Dudden’s magisterial work in 1905.

Eamon Duffy, Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997) NEW in paperback, $19 A magnificently illustrated one-volume history of the papacy originally designed to accompany a 6-part television series. Duffy, a Reformation historian by training, threads his way with finesse through a complex, many-sided history. His well-written & smooth narrative sometimes glides over debates between scholars on various issues, especially those concerning the early history of the papacy. A superb point-of-entry and overview.

John C. Cavadini, ed., Gregory the Great: A Symposium (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996) hardcover, $35.

Claude Dagens, Saint Grégoire le Grand: Culture et expérience chrétienne (Paris: Étudies augustiniennes, 1977).

Robert Eno, The Rise of the Papacy (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991) paperback, $13. A superb scholarly investigation into the ambiguities of the early papacy.

G.R. Evans, The Thought of Gregory the Great (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986) paperback, $12.

J. Fontaine, R. Gillet, & S. Pellistrandi, eds. Grégoire le Grand, Colloques Internationaux du CNRS (Paris: 1986). Valuable essays.

Robert Gillet, "Grégoire le Grand (saint)," Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 6:872-910.

Robert Gillet, "Spiritualité et place du moine dans l’eglise selon saint Grégoire le Grand," in Théologie de la vie monastique (Paris: Aubier, 1961), pp. 323-351.

J.N.D. Kelly, Oxford Dictionary of Popes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986) paperback, $12. Superb. Entries are arranged chronologically, so that it be read straight through.

Robert A. Markus, From Augustine to Gregory the Great (London: Variorum Reprints, 1983). A valuable collection of essays. See especially: "Gregory the Great and the Origins of Papal Missionary Strategy," reprinted from Studies in Church History 6 (1970) 29-38.

William D. McCready, Signs of Sanctity: Miracles in the Thought of Gregory the Great, Studies and Texts 91 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1989).

Richard McBrien, Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II (New York: Harper San Francisco, 1997) hardcover, $40.

Bernard McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism: 500 to 1200 A.D. (New York: Crossroad, 1994) paperback, $25. See Chapter 2, pp. 34-79, for a superb study of Gregory a contemplative.

Thomas F.X. Noble, The Republic of St. Peter: the Birth of the Papal State, 680-825 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1984) paperback, $18.

Joan M. Petersen, The Dialogues of Gregory the Great in Their Late Antique Cultural Background, Studies and Texts 69 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1984).

Jeffrey Richards, Consul of God: the Life and Times of Gregory the Great (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980).

Jeffrey Richards, The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages, 476-752 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979).

Susan E. Schriener, "‘Where Shall Wisdom be Found?’ Gregory’s Interpretation of Job," American Benedictine Review 39 (1988) 321-342.

Carole Straw, Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection, Transformation of the Classical Heritage 14 (Berkeley: University of California, 1988) paperback, $13.

Adalbert de Vogüé, "From Crisis to Resolutions: The Dialogues as the History of a Soul," Cistercian Studies 23 (1988) 211-221.

Colin Morris, The Papal Monarchy: The Western Church from 1050 to 1250, Oxford History of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991) paperback, $30. A fine study of the rise of the papacy, but also a first-rate survey of the crucial period which witnessed the ascendancy of much else: of the Crusades, of heresy, of the universities, of the mendicants.

Gerd Tellenbach, The Church in Western Europe from the Tenth to the Early Twelfth Century, Cambridge Medieval Textbooks (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993) paperback, $22. Tellenbach, one of the deans of medieval studies, offers a nuanced study of the period that marks the rise of the papacy. He skillfully debunks easy-going generalizations about the power of the popes and about church-state relations. Not for beginners.

Geoffrey Barraclough, The Medieval Papacy, Library of World Civilization (New York: Norton, 1979) paperback, $8. A well-written introduction, fine illustrations.

Uta-Renate Blumenthal, The Investiture Controversy: Church and Monarchy from the Ninth to the Twelfth Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988) paperback, $15.

Uta-Renate Blumenthal, Papal Reform and Canon Law in the 11^th and 12^th Centuries (Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1998). NEW. Collected essays by a good medieval historian.

Kathleen Cushing, Papacy and Law in the Gregorian Revolution, Oxford Historical Monographs (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998) hardcover, $76. NEW.

Judith Herrin, The Formation of Christendom (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987) paperback, $10.

Richard Krautheimer, Rome, Profile of a City, 312-1308 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980).

C.H. Lawrence, The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages (Stroud: Sutton, 1999) forthcoming.

Aristeides Papadakis & John Meyendorff, The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy: The Church, 1071-1453 A.D. (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1994) paperback, $18. An orthodox viewpoint.

Kenneth Pennington, Popes and Bishops: The Papal Monarchy in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1984).

James M. Powell, ed., Innocent III: Vicar of Christ or Lord of the World? (Washington, DC: Catholic University Press, 1994) paperback, $15.

Christopher Ryan, ed., Religious Roles of the Papacy: Ideals and Realities, 1150-1300, Papers in Mediaeval Studies 8 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1989).

I.S. Robinson, The Papacy, 1073-1198: Continuity and Innovation, Cambridge Medieval Textbooks (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990) paperback, $18.

Jane Sayers, Innocent III, Leader of Europe, 1198-1216 (New York: Longman, 1994) paperback, $19.

Bernhard Schimmelpfennig, The Papacy (New York: Columbia University Press, 1992) paperback, $20. Disappointing.

R.W. Southern, Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages, Pelican History of the Church 2 (New York: Penguin Books, 1970) paperback, $7.

Gerd Tellenbach, Church, State, and Christian Society at the Time of the Investiture Contest, Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 27 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991/ 1940) paperback, $14.

John A.F. Thomson, Popes and Princes 1417-1517: Politics and Polity in the Late Medieval Church (London: Allen & Unwin, 1980).

Brian Tierney, ed., The Crisis of Church and State, 1050-1300, Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 21 (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1988 / 1964) paperback, $10. One of the best collections of material on the investiture controversy and the Gregorian reform.

Bernard of Clairvaux, Five Books of Consideration: Advice to a Pope, Cistercian Fathers 13, trans. John D. Anderson & Elizabeth T. Keenan (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1976) paperback, $10. When one of Bernard’s protégés was elected pope, Eugenius III (d.1153), Bernard sent him a stern admonition on the duties and perils of his new position.

Marsilius of Padua, Defensor Pacis, Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 6 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 19__) paperback, $12. Marsilius of Padua (d. 1342) wrote one of the most brilliant, radical, and influential of medieval political treatises—arguing that authority of the papacy comes not directly from God, but via the people of God, implying that the pope is answerable to the people. It earned Marsilius an official condemnation from bitterly anti-Franciscan Pope John XXII in 1327.

Gregory the Great, Dialogues, trans. Odo Zimmerman, Fathers of the Church 39 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1959).

Gregory the Great, Letters, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2^nd series, vol. 12 (reprint of 1894 edition: Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994).

Gregory the Great, Pastoral Care [Regula pastoralis], Ancient Christian Writers 11 (Westminister, MD: Newman Press, 1950).

Gregory the Great, Gregory the Great: Forty Gospel Homilies, trans. Dom David Hurst (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990).

Ephraim Emerton, ed., The Correspondence of Gregory VII (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1966) paperback, $10. Gregory’s grand vision of the papacy is best found in his letters.

Hans Eberhard Mayer, The Crusades, trans. John Gillingham (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), paperback, $18.

Eric Christiansen, The Northern Crusades (New York: Penguin USA, 1998) paperback, $14. NEW.

Benjamin Z. Kedor, Crusade and Mission: European Approaches to the Muslims (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984).

Jonathan Riley-Smith, ed., The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995) NEW in paperback, $25. The place to start.

Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades: a Short History (New Haven: Yale University Press (paperback, $13).

Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988).

Steven Runciman, History of the Crusades, 3 volumes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951-1954) paperback, $16 per volume. A classic. Dated, but well-written.

J.M. Hussey, The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire, Oxford History of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986) paperback, $30. A superb survey of Byzantine history and theology. It touches on a host of valuable issues touching medieval history, including the iconoclastic controversy, the Great Schism, and the Crusades.

Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, Library of World Civilization (New York: W.W. Norton, 1971 / 1989) paperback, $15

Romilly Jenkins, Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries, A.D. 610-1071, Medieval Reprints for Teaching 8 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991) paperback, $17.

Alexander P. Kazhdan et al., The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 3 vol. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).

Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (reprint of 1953 edition: Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1997) paperback, $14.

Cyril Mango, ed., The Art of the Byzantine Empire, 312-1453: Sources and Documents, Medieval Reprints for Teaching (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1986) paperback, $16.

John Meyendorff, Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions: the Church, 450-680 (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir Seminary Press, 1989) paperback, $10.

John Meyendorff, Christ in Eastern Christian Thought (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1987) paperback, $9.

John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, 2^nd ed. (New York: Fordham University Press, 1987) paperback, $16.

Aidan Nichols, Rome and the Eastern Churches: A Study in Schism (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992) paperback.

Jaroslav Pelikan, The Spirit of Eastern Christendom (600-1700), vol. 2 of The Christian Tradition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978) paperback, $12.

Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996) paperback, $35.

Steven Runciman, The Eastern Schism: A Study of the Papacy and the Eastern Churches During the XIth and XIIth Centuries (Oxford, 1953). Dated, but a classic.

Steven Runciman, The Fall of Constantinople, 1453 (reprint of 1965 edition: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) paperback, $10.

Tomas Spidlik, The Spirituality of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook, Cistercian Studies 79 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1986) paperback, $25.

Warren Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1997) paperback, $35. NEW.

Kallistos Ware, "Eastern Christendom," in John McManners, ed., The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990) paperback, $25. A good overview.