First Published in 2005. The book covers four periods, each with a different focus. From 300 to 750 Canning examines Christian ideas of rulership. The often neglected centuries from 750 to 1050, the Carolingian period and its aftermath, are given special attention. From 1050 to 1290 the conflict between temporal and spiritual power and the revived legacy of antiquity comes to the fore. Finally in the period from 1290 to 1450, Canning focuses on the confrontation with political reality in ideas of church and state, and in juristic thought.

Between the fifth and twelfth centuries, when vast stretches of Europe were still uninhabited, a society grew up which had to learn the very rudiments of how to manipulate the ordering of public life. It was during and just after this period that many of the basic political concepts of today were formed. In this new study the author employs the latest medieval research -- much of it his own -- to trace the origins and development of political ideas in Western Europe -- ideas as familiar as sovereignty, parliament, citizenship, the rule of law and the state. He shows this development being forged out of the conflict between the descending and ascending theses of government, with their Roman and Germanic sources, and explains the dominance of ecclesiastical powers in medieval society.

The book covers four periods, each with a different focus. From 300 to 750 Canning examines Christian ideas of rulership. The often neglected centuries from 750 to 1050, the Carolingian period and its aftermath, are given special attention. From 1050 to 1290 the conflict between temporal and spiritual power and the revived legacy of antiquity comes to the fore.