Lords and Pastors

Bishops were key figures in medieval European society, providing leadership to the communities under their supervision and linking day-to-day life to distant centres of political power and ecclesiastical authority.

From the tenth to thirteenth centuries, dozens of bishops in the German Empire became the subjects of biographies, often written by people who had known them personally. Some of these bishops were leaders of armies and advisers to kings, and their biographies provide fascinating insights into medieval society and politics. They illuminate how great controversies like the Investiture Controversy and the Crusades impacted on and were understood in local communities, and offer a kaleidoscope of local detail not found in other source types.

This book presents six such biographies, translated into English for the first time, each providing its own fascinating window onto local societies and their leaders. They show us how political conflict in its many forms - including law, family, warfare and murder - played a crucial role in this formative period of European history.