Kent Navalesi, Ph.D. reviewed A sacred kingdom by Michael Edward Moore
A Sacred Kingdom
It's been a while since I finished this (long) book, so I'll just leave a small blurb. A Sacred Kingdom is about the relationship between bishops and Frankish kings in the early Middle Ages. This is a well-worn topic, but Moore's book offers an engaging critique of prevailing theories of this relationship, which have tended to emphasize either a supposed sacralization of kingship or a relationship of collaboration/competition between sacred and mundane spheres. Moore argues persuasively that the bishops' role as keepers of ancient law and culture enabled them, in some ways, to shape the contours of Frankish kingship itself by propagating an episcopal "social thought" (6) that successfully aligned royal priorities with those of the church. This social thought was articulated primarily in the decrees of church councils, which are Moore's main source throughout the book.
Moore brings needed nuance to scholars' conceptions of royal/religious power; I think he …
It's been a while since I finished this (long) book, so I'll just leave a small blurb. A Sacred Kingdom is about the relationship between bishops and Frankish kings in the early Middle Ages. This is a well-worn topic, but Moore's book offers an engaging critique of prevailing theories of this relationship, which have tended to emphasize either a supposed sacralization of kingship or a relationship of collaboration/competition between sacred and mundane spheres. Moore argues persuasively that the bishops' role as keepers of ancient law and culture enabled them, in some ways, to shape the contours of Frankish kingship itself by propagating an episcopal "social thought" (6) that successfully aligned royal priorities with those of the church. This social thought was articulated primarily in the decrees of church councils, which are Moore's main source throughout the book.
Moore brings needed nuance to scholars' conceptions of royal/religious power; I think he is particularly good at describing the "soft power" through which bishops influenced kings, even at times crafting new language to describe their relationship. Episcopal Christianity was a "cultural overlay" (122) to barbarian society, for example, and bishops and kings conceived of their respective positions "in terms of mutuality and parallelism, a conceptual 'cross-entry'." (137)