Difficult gifts: gifts to and from the popes in twelfth- and thirteenth-century England

Kjær, Lars (2023) Difficult gifts: gifts to and from the popes in twelfth- and thirteenth-century England. Journal of Medieval History, 49 (3). pp. 387-401. ISSN 0304-4181

Abstract

This article explores how gifts, and stories about gifts, to and from the popes were treated and discussed in twelfth- and thirteenth-century England. The first part explores the intellectual context in which these stories were written, namely scriptural and classical ideas about the gift that circulated in the period, and the practical challenges faced by the papacy. The second part explores how English clerks and aristocrats utilised these gifts and stories about them. The exchange of gifts, the article argues, presented the papacy and its partners with mutually incompatible practical and ideological pressures. Despite the efforts of skilled actors such as Pope Innocent III, these challenges could only be navigated, never resolved.

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Official URL:	https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2023.2210040
Item Type:	Article
Disciplines:	Humanities > History
Depositing User:	Lars Kjaer
Date Deposited:	02 Oct 2023 13:44
Last Modified:	27 Oct 2023 09:19
URI:	https://nul.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/1153

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