Churches and churchmen in medieval Europe

"Churches and Churchmen in Medieval Europe penetrates many regions of the medieval church, dealing with institutions, buildings, personalities and literature. Christopher Brooke explores the origins of the diocese and the parish and traces the history of the see of Hereford and of York Minster. He discusses the arrival of the archdeacon, the Normans as cathedral builders and the kings of England and Scotland as monastic patrons. The studies of monastic life deal with the European question of monastic vocation and with St. Bernard's part in the sensational expansion of the early twelfth century. An epilogue takes us to the fourteenth century, contrasting Chaucer's parson with an actual Norfolk rector."--Jacket.