Lordship and Faith

Reviews / Votes

[A] masterful account of the relationship between the English gentry and the parish church from the Norman Conquest to the early 16th century... Essential. * CHOICE * ...an exceptionally well-judged, balanced picture of the country's landed families "at home," as neighbors, as patrons, and as parishioners...Saul achieves what to some historians may seem unlikely: an analytical and learned survey of England's gentry at work in the parish that also points toward a vast range of potential pathways for future research in the subject. * Mark Arvanigian, California State University, Fresno, Journal of British Studies * Clearly, the relationship between a lord and his parish church was symbiotic: each helped define the identity, status and function of the other. Saul's important study valuably helps elucidate that symbiosis and fulfils the aims with which he set out. * Nicholas Paxton, History Today * Nigel Saul has devoted his career to the study of the English gentry and nobody is better qualified to consider their role within the parish as patrons, as parishioners and as leaders. This well-researched and readable study is a most welcome addition to those interested not only in the parish and the gentry but also in attitudes on benefaction and patronage at a time of growing diversity within the medieval Church. * Christian Steer, The Ricardian * [A] book which is fundamentally trail-blazing, decidedly stimulating, offers much, and is definitely welcome. It reflects a truly ambitious and challenging project, one which perhaps only Nigel Saul could tackle over such a broad canvas, and with such deft expertise. * Robert Swanson, Reviews in History * this will be a valuable companion and reference book for anyone seriously interested in medieval English churches.By choosing to approach church buildings through their gentry patrons, Professor Saul has produced a work of true originality, taking us further in our understanding than we have travelled hitherto. * Dr. Nicholas Orme, Church Times * Clearly, the relationship between a lord and his parish church was symbiotic: each helped define the identity, status and function of the other. Saul's important study valuably helps elucidate that symbiosis and fulfills the aims with which he set out.