Bonizo of Sutri: Portrait in a Landscape

The book offers a new perspective on the life and career of Bishop Bonizo of Sutri, revealing his populist roots and his vision of holy war against Henry IV of Germany. It challenges the notion of a uniform Gregorian party and emphasizes the diversity of regional partners within the papal reform movement. Additionally, it explores the relationship between popular religious reform and the development of communal government in northern Italy.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 14 April 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

This book offers a groundbreaking reinterpretation of the life and career of the influential polemicist Bishop Bonizo of Sutri. Through a meticulous analysis of Bonizos literary works and contemporary reports about his activities, the author reveals the populist roots of both the bishop's reform ideology and his vision of a holy war against the heretical emperor, Henry IV of Germany. By establishing the predominance of Bonizos personal experience as a member of the populist Lombard reform community, the Pataria, in shaping his thought, this study challenges the notion of a uniform Gregorian party and significantly strengthens the impression of the papal reform movement as a fragile coalition of multiple regional partners, such as the Pataria, that shared a fundamental unity of purpose but had distinct strategic objectives. Furthermore, this investigation places Bonizos story within the context of the urban life of his native Lombardy and explores the relationship between popular religious reform and the gradual development of communal government in northern Italy.

Weight: 720g
Dimension: 159 x 237 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793608239