Henry II,Richard I and the order of Grandmont

Many late twelfth-century writers including John of Salisbury, Gerald of Wales and leaders of the order of Grandmont attest to the interest of Henry II and Richard I in this highly ascetic group of monks. Henry in particular was known as a patron of religious of high spiritual renown, although politics was a major consideration in his monastic patronage.To trace the manifestation of these connections, in the creation of dependent cells and granting of pensions and privileges, is rendered complex because most surviving twelfth-century Grandmontine documents are forgeries. Their original Rule forbade title deeds in order to prevent secular entanglements, but it was relaxed in the thirteenth century and many charters were produced then. Cells the kings had created claimed valuable additional privileges, while others invented Plantagenet foundation to gain protection and aid from the French crown.Some original charters do, however, exist and many forgeries are amplifications of originals. By seeing where they diverge from standard chancery formulae and using historical evidence it is possible to trace in outline the donations made. This process indicates that although the Plantagenets founded some cells and aided the mother-house considerably, their generosity was greatest in grants of privileges and pensions.     

Disorder,debts and excommunication: Pope John XXII and the reform of the order of Grandmont

In the early fourteenth century, the order of Grandmont was crippled by internal conflict, violence and debts, causing Pope John XXII to intervene in 1317. This article examines the two stages of his reform project: a programme of constitutional reorganisation, aiming to make the order conform to standard monastic practices, and the longer process of financial reorganisation during which the pope attempted to clear the order’s debts by negotiating loans and using excommunication as a sanction for non-payment. John’s dealings with the order are characterised by a mixture of decisive constitutional change and painstaking financial consolidation, and an examination of the pope’s actions provides insights both into his pontificate and into a neglected phase in the history of the order of Grandmont.     

The Supreme Court Argument that Saved the Union: Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and the Prize Cases

On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, claiming constitutional authority to do so “as a fit and necessary war measure.” The epic struggle between North and South had been raging for nearly two years. There were over a million soldiers under arms. At Antietam there had been more than 20,000 casualties in the bloodiest single day of battle in American history. ¹ But was it, in point of law, a war?     

Henry II,liturgical patronage and the birth of the ‘Romano‐German Pontifical’

Variously acclaimed as coepiscopus, saint and Mönchskönig, Henry II of Germany has always had a reputation as a quasi‐religious figure. This article goes a step further, appending to his résumé the creation of the wildly successful liturgical tradition known as the ‘Romano‐German Pontifical’. Formerly dated to the tenth century, its major ordines are here argued to have been cultivated in royal circles in the years 1002–9, before being compiled for the first time as a gift for the new Bamberg Cathedral. The tradition is shown to reflect the king’s concerns, scholarly, political and confessional, as well as projecting an idealistic, Bamberg‐esque notion of Romano‐German unity.     

Henry I of Germany's 929 military campaign in archaeological perspective

In 929, King Henry I of Germany (919–36) launched an exceptionally successful offensive against the Slav polities along the length of his eastern frontier. This campaign, which is recorded in contemporary written accounts, has long been known to historians, and its importance in the political history of the German kingdom is undisputed. However, to date, there is no book‐length or article‐length study devoted to Henry's military successes in 929. This article fills that striking lacuna by drawing on the vast body of information provided through excavations, which sheds considerable new light on the scale and sophistication of Henry I's undertaking.     

Reconsidering Donizone's Vita Mathildis: Boniface of Canossa and Emperor Henry II

Boniface of Canossa is a figure of great importance to the political and military history of eleventh-century Italy. Modern historiography has almost universally argued that Boniface gained his power through a close relationship and alliance with a series of German emperors. Most accounts see Boniface's fall and eventual murder in 1052 as a direct consequence of the breakdown of this relationship. This analysis is flawed, however, as it rests predominantly on the evidence of a single source: the Vita Mathildis by Donizone of Canossa. This document was produced more than half a century after the death of Boniface by an author who held complex political goals, but these have not been fully considered in the discussion of Boniface. Through an examination of the charter sources, this article argues that Donizone misrepresented Boniface's actions and that there is considerable evidence that Boniface was not a consistent ally of the German emperors.     

Richard II and the church in the years of ‘tyranny’

The years 1396–1399 were critical ones in terms of European and English politics alike and, concomitantly, in the course of the Great Schism of the West. England's attitude to the Schism at this time has hitherto been considered primarily from a presupposition of Richard II's own attitude and authority and as an aspect of European politics. An examination of the direct relationship between Richard II and both the Urbanist papacy and the English Church raises some doubts about the extent of his authority in ecclesiastical affairs both before and after his emphatic reassertion of his prerogative in 1397. Particular consideration is given to his personal view of his proper interest. A discussion of the effect of royal policy on the English Church, especially in respect of the episcopate, suggests that, both in practice and in theory, his influence, whilst strong, rested on co-operation as much as coercion, and the nature of the Anglo-papal concordat of November 1398 is reconsidered in this light. It is suggested that greater stress should be laid on the spiritual considerations which weighed with all parties at the time alongside those of a more familiar secular kind.