Episcopal Elections 250-600: Hieratcy And Popular Will In Lat

Description: Peter Norton covers a topic of great relevance to students of early Church history and late antiquity alike. He challenges the conventional view that after the adoption of Christianity by the Roman empire the local community lost its voice in the appointment of bishops, and argues that this right remained in theory and practice for longer than is normally assumed. Given that bishops became important to the running of the empire at the local level, a proper understanding of how they came into office is essential for our understanding of the later empire. Review: [an] important volume...Norton's fine study provides a welcome addition to scholarship while also pointing toward further fruitful avenues of investigation...Norton has provided the best overview of the topic available, and his book will serve as a point reference for all subsequent investigations of episcopal elections in late antiquity. S.W.J Keough Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses lucidly written and cogently argued Adam A.J. DeVille Logos: A Journal of Early Christian Studies Table of Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. Legislation and theory; 3. The electorate: local communities and public disorder; 4. Imperial intervention; 5. Provinces and patriarchs: organizational structures; 6. The metropolitan system in the West; 7. The eastern metropolitans; 8. Corruption, constraint, and nepotism; 9. Three disputed elections; 10. Conclusion