Bishops, 1400–1550

Within the hierarchy of the Church, bishops are regarded as successors to the apostles, ranking above priests and deacons. They are shepherds of the Christian flock, teaching the doctrines of the Church, leading their sheep along the path toward the salvation of their souls, and warning them of the dangers they incur if they choose to separate themselves from the love of God. The shepherd’s crook inspired the bishop’s crosier. In the earliest Christian centuries, believers in each city chose their own bishop, and many of those bishops were martyred for their faith. After the secular authorities adopted Christianity, asserted claims to appoint bishops over the heads of cathedral chapters, and made use of them for political and administrative purposes, bishops themselves acquired princely status, some even combining secular and ecclesiastical leadership in the title “prince-bishop.” In that context, the shepherd’s simple wooden crook could become a masterpiece of the goldsmith’s and the enameller’s arts. Prelates who put service to the secular powers over the cure of souls existed throughout Christendom and secular distractions inspired calls for reform “in head and members.” The division of Christendom into scores of ecclesiastical provinces, each of which was led by a metropolitan—that is, a patriarch or archbishop—and the division of each province into bishoprics, meant that there were thousands of bishops during the Renaissance period. Given those numbers, the best way to approach Renaissance bishops is by means of Reference Works. This article then proceeds to illustrate the essential features of the Renaissance episcopate by means of a selection of Primary Sources, which are, in turn, supported by Overviews of a pan-European nature. The literature on bishops is so vast that the student should allow plenty of time to explore Journals. However, the research process can be sped up a little by focusing on Collections of Papers, here subdivided into Group Studies and those devoted to Individual Prelates. Thereafter, the bibliography takes a tour of western Christendom, following the example of Eubel 1898– (cited under Reference Works), even if that risks engaging with the nationalism of Eubel’s day. The route begins in Italy, crosses the Alps into France and the Pyrenees into Iberia. The British Isles and Scandinavia are grouped together for convenience. Germany covers even more diverse realms. The eastern reaches of the western Church are dealt with in Poland, Hungary, and Dalmatia.

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