Description
Book SynopsisA major problem which occupied thinkers in the later Middle Ages was the question of the internal structure of the Church and the proper interrelationship of its members. Dr Tierney's book is an account of those canonistic theories of Church government which contributed to the growth of the conciliar theory, and which were formulated between Gratian's Decretum (c. 1140) and the Great Schism (1378). It is concerned particularly with the juristic development of the fundamental conciliar doctrine, the assertion that the universal Church was superior to the Church of Rome, with a consequent denial of the Pope's supreme authority.
Table of ContentsPreface; List of abbreviations; Introductory: the conciliar theory and the Canonists; Part I. Decretists Theories of Church Goverment: 1. Pope and Church; 2. Pope and general council; 3. Pope and Cardinals; Part II. Aspects of Thirteenth-Century Ecclesiology: 4. Changing views of Church government; 5. The structure of a medieval ecclesiastical corporation; 6. The whole church as corporation; Part III. Conciliar Ideas in the Fourteenth Century: 7. John of Paris; 8. Conflicting criticisms of Papal monarchy; 9. The attitude of the academic Canonists; 10. Franciscus Zabarella; Conclusion; Appendices; List of works cited; Index.
