Bishops, councils, and consensus in the Visigothic Kingdom, 589-633

"The ritual expression of community consensus at saints' festivals and judicial procedures became a key element in the exercise of "holy power" in all of western Europe following the dissolution of the Roman empire. Among the bishops and kings of this fragmented world, Catholic leaders in Visigothic Spain were unique in their development of a program for centralized and exclusive Catholic consensus. Bishops, Councils, and Consensus describes how community consensus in this "barbarian" kingdom came to be seen as a coercive force to be used to eliminate any trace of difference among all its inhabitants, especially Jews, heretics, and political dissenters. Concentrating on the day-to-day exercise of Christian leadership, as well as on the conflicts between leaders as they sought to define and impose divergent visions of "holy" power, the book also explains their inability to put ideal consensus into practice."--Jacket.