Table of Contents

Introduction: Churchmen and Warfare
Clerics and War in the First Millennium
Papal Centralization and Canonical Prescriptions
The Epic Archetype: Evidence from Chivalric Literature
The Norman Conquest: Odo of Bayeux and Geoffrey of Coutances
Negotiating a New Anglo-Norman Reality
The Civil War between Stephen and Matilda
The Angevins, Part I: [Henry II and Richard I] Royal Servants
The Angevins, Part II: [Richard I, John, and Henry III] Crusaders for King and Christ
Conclusion: The Thirteenth Century and Beyond
Bibliography

About the Author

Associate Professor of History, Texas A&M University-Texarkana

Reviews

This book is a compelling reconsideration of the scholarly narrative about reform clerical arms-bearing that will be valuable for graduate students and specialists alike.
*H-NET*

Represents a valuable contribution to our understanding of the function and reception of prelates as active participants in the political and social structures of medieval England.
*PARERGON*

An engaging volume which makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the medieval clergy and the attitudes (both idealistic and pragmatic) which shaped them.
*HISTORY*

Will be of real value to all interested in clerical warfare, not to mention those concerned with some individual prelates of the age.
*SEHEPUNKTE*

[A]dmirably challenges the prevailing scholarly narrative that militant clerks in England either were anachronistic holdovers from an earlier age, or compelled contemporary observers to suffer from cognitive dissonance ... This volume will be of great value to specialists as well as to advanced students in courses on medieval religion, culture, and military history.
*THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW*

Bishop Wimund of Man and the Isles waged a guerrilla war against King David of Scotland in the second quarter of the 12th century ... But what were bishops doing leading armies in the first place? The theory and reality of this in the period 1000- 1250 is now explored in the splendidly named Warrior Churchmen of Medieval England by Craig M Nakashian.
*THE TELEGRAPH*

Gives a deft treatment of the tight interconnection between religion and politics during this age of faith par excellence. ... [A] scholarly, lively and absorbing book.
*TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT*

Nakashian is persuasive in arguing that military violence by church leaders persisted and remained a contested issue throughout the High Middle Ages.
*CHOICE*