Examines in what ways and how far medieval churches were treated as items of property. This book ranges over most of Western Europe, from beginnings in the late Roman Empire and post-Roman kingdoms, into the Carolingian empire and its neighbours and successor states; and through the Gregorian reform, up to the late twelfth century.

This book examines in what ways and how far medieval churches were treated as items of property. It ranges over most of Western Europe, from beginnings in the late Roman Empire and post-Roman kingdoms, into the Carolingian empire and its neighbours and successor states; and through the Gregorian reform, up to the late twelfth century when property in churches was patchily superseded by the canon-law right of patronage. The approach is as much social and religious as legal and administrative, and explores ideas and assumptions as well as practical exploitation and property dealings.

the new locus classicus for those looking for a definitive, comparative and long-tearm study of how and in what way churches were owned in the early Middle Ages, and of when and in what ways that changed.