A detailed study of the political relations between England and the papacy from 1858 to 1861, the decisive years for the unification of Italy.

"Much has been written about the complex relationship between England and the papacy in the 14th century, yet the form (rather than the content) of the diplomatic intercourse between these two protagonists has not hitherto been examined in detail. Drawing on a wide range of unpublished sources, Pluger explores the techniques of communication employed by the Crown in its dealings with Clement VI (1342-52) and Innocent VI (1352-62). Methodologies of social and cultural history and of International Relations are brought to bear on the analysis of the dialogue between Westminster and Avignon, resulting in a more complete picture of 14th-century Anglo-papal relations in particular and of medieval diplomatic practice in general."

The lengthy period of the Avignon papacy in the fourteenth century created circumstances in which the burgeoning bureaucracy of the papal curia could flourish. Papal involvement in the everyday business of the church at local level reached its fullest extent in the years before the Great Schism. This book examines the impact of that involvement in Scotland and northern England, and analyses the practical effect of theories of papal sovereignty at a time when there was still widespread acceptance of the role of the Holy See. The nature and importance of political opposition, from both crown and parliament, is investigated from the standpoint of the validity of the complaints as indicated by local evidence, and a new interpretation is offered of the various statutory measures taken in England in Edward III's reign to control alleged abuses of papal power. Points of similarity and difference between Scotland and England are also given due emphasis. This is the first work to attempt to analyse the full breadth of papal involvement in late medieval Britain by utilising the rich local sources in association with material from the Vatican archives.

This study, beginning after Agincourt with Henry V's seeking of alliances and recognition for his gains and claims to the French throne through the Treaty of Troyes, describes the way in which the papacy's "plenitude of power" functioned through its representatives in England from 1417 to 1464.

This book offers a unique and fascinating examination of British and Irish responses to Italian independence and unification in the mid-nineteenth century. Chapters explore the interplay of religion, politics, exile, feminism, colonialism and romanticism in fuelling impassioned debates on the 'Italian question' on both sides of the Irish Sea.

England and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages: Papal Privileges in European Perspective, c. 680-1073 provides the first dedicated, book-length study of interactions between England and the papacy throughout the early middle ages. It takes as its lens the extant English record of papal privileges: legal diplomas drawn-up on metres-long scrolls of Egyptian papyrus, acquired by pilgrim-petitioners within the city of Rome, and then brought back to Britain to negotiate local claims and conflicts. How, why, and when did English petitioners choose to invoke the distant authority of Rome in this way, and how did this compare to what was taking place elsewhere in Europe? How successful were these efforts, and how were they remembered in later centuries? By using these still-understudied papal documents to reassess what we know of the worlds of Bede, the Mercian Supremacy, the West Saxon 'Kingdom of the English', and the Norman Conquest--locating them in the process within a comparative, Europe-wide setting--this book offers important new contributions to Anglo-Saxon studies, legal and documentary history, papal history, and the study of early medieval Europe more widely. It also includes an annotated handlist of the corpus of English papal privileges up to 1073--a critical reference work for future research in the field.

From the book's preface:"Commencing with the Reign of William the Conqueror, I have recorded England's stern resistance to Papal extortions, and arrogant claims to temporal power, down to the birth of the Reformation. But few persons realise how widespread and stern that resistance was, as revealed in the documents I cite. That resistance was almost entirely political until the time of Wycliffe, but from that time onward there was added a stern opposition to many of the doctrines of the Church of Rome. With doctrinal questions, however, I have nothing to do in this book. The number of Acts of Parliament passed before the Reformation, limiting the political power of the Popes, will surprise some of my readers.With the Reformation began a new phase of England's Fight with the Papacy. The most desperate and prolonged efforts were made by Rome to recover lost ground. Her chief reliance was not on controversial arguments, but on political weapons, as has been the case ever since. Her many plots and conspiracies, down to the flight of James II. in 1688, are here recorded. All the Penal Laws passed during that period are discussed in these pages, and the causes which produced them are traced to their sources. In this portion of the book I have made use, so far as possible, of the wealth of material which has come to light during the past half-century. To a very large extent my authorities are Roman Catholic. In the section devoted to the Reign of Charles II., I have made use of my book, The Jesuits in Great Britain, but with omissions and additions. I do not, of course, justify all the Penal Laws which were passed; but, injustice to our forefathers, it must be pointed out that each Act was called for by some fresh aggression of Rome's agents in the political sphere. And all through the period between the Reign of Henry VIII. and the accession of James II., the Court of Rome never made a serious effort for conciliation; but, on the contrary, did everything in its power to exasperate the Government for the time being. If it takes two to make a quarrel, it takes two to make peace. Had the Vatican wished, it had many opportunities of lightening the burden of English Roman Catholics; but it refused them all. A modern Roman Catholic biographer of Edmund Campion, the Jesuit, forcibly remarks: "As affairs were managed, they rendered simply impossible the coexistence of the Government of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth with the obedience of their subjects to the supreme authority of the Pope; and those Princes had no choice but either to abdicate, with the hope of receiving back their Crowns, like King John, from the Papal Legate, or to hold their own in spite of the Popes, and in direct and avowed hostility to them.""I have tried to write with moderation: it is for my readers to decide whether I have succeeded or not. I prefer strong facts to strong adjectives, though there are times when the latter are justifiable. Though I am a Protestant, not ashamed of my colours, I have not, I believe, written anything in these pages to which old-fashioned Roman Catholics, of the Gallican School, would object."