Writing the History of the Papacy in the 21st Century

Joëlle Rollo-Koster , Robert A. Ventresca , Melodie H. Eichbauer, and Miles Pattenden, eds.: The Cambridge History of the Papacy, 3 Vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025. Edited by Joëlle Rollo-Koster, Robert Ventresca, Melodie Eichbauer, and Miles Pattenden and published in three volumes in 2025, The Cambridge History of the Papacy offers a new sweeping and critical overview of the papacy as a multifaceted institution whose evolution over two millennia defies simplistic narratives of continuity or survival. Rather than presenting the papacy as a monolithic or static entity, the editors argue for a nuanced understanding of its historical trajectory as one marked by continual reinvention, adaptation, and contestation. This work situates the papacy not merely within ecclesiastical history but as a central actor in world history, whose influence has extended across domains as diverse as theology, politics, diplomacy, arts, and social ethics. Each volume approaches the subject with a distinct thematic focus: Volume 1, The Two Swords, examines the interplay between spiritual and temporal authority; Volume 2, The Governance of the Church, delves into the internal mechanisms of papal administration; and Volume 3, Civil Society, explores the papacy's cultural and societal impacts. Together, these volumes offer a robust and nuanced account of one of history's most fascinating and disputed institutions. The editors begin by problematising the commonplace characterisation of the papacy as the world's oldest surviving institution. While acknowledging the claim of apostolic succession from Peter to the present pope, they rightly caution against conflating this theological assertion with historical continuity. Instead, the papacy should be understood as a series of institutional forms and ideological constructs that have been repeatedly made, unmade, and remade in response to shifting historical contexts. This interpretative framework foregrounds discontinuity and transformation as central to the papacy's longevity and resilience. Four overarching questions cut across the individual volumes: the pope's centrality within the Catholic Church; the primacy of papal power as a governing instrument; the papacy's cultural influence; and the implications of secularisation for its authority among believers and non-believers. Several articles across the c.2400 pages of text address these themes, albeit not all of them engage with them directly. There is nevertheless quite a lot of coherence among the 83 essays: a testament to the mammoth task undertaken by the editors. The volumes aim to offer (I) an innovative contribution and a revision of the history of the historiography of the papacy, as well as (II) a reframing of its conceptualisation. Let us proceed in order. (I) From the early pages of the general introduction, the reader finds a critical survey of papal historiography, tracing its origins from early ecclesiastical texts such as the Liber pontificalis to Renaissance humanist scholarship. The editors highlight the eclectic and often polemical nature of sources, including hagiographies, anti-papal propaganda (e.g., the Lutheran Passional Christi und Antichristi), and Enlightenment critiques. They note the historiographical polarisation surrounding figures like Pius XII, whose wartime pontificate has generated competing narratives of sanctity and complicity. The so-called “Pius War” exemplifies the challenges of disentangling historical analysis from public memory. Attention is, of course, given to the “invention” of papal history – particular mention is given to Onofrio Panvinio, subject of a recent monograph by Stefan Bauer.1 But the professionalisation of papal historiography indeed only truly began in the late nineteenth century with the opening of the Vatican archives and the rise of academic scholarship. Institutions such as the École française de Rome and the Görres-Gesellschaft facilitated archival research and their dissemination, culminating in landmark, if apologetic, works like Ludwig von Pastor's Geschichte der Päpste. The opening of the Vatican archives, particularly those pertaining to the Roman Inquisition and to Pius XII, is also presented as a pivotal moment for the development of papal historiography. The editors sensibly emphasise how Vatican archival policies reflect institutional priorities and that archives themselves are instruments of power and identity. Pope Francis's decision to rename the “Vatican Secret Archive” is for example interpreted as a gesture toward transparency and openness. Nonetheless, the editors advocate for research on the papacy that incorporates sources beyond the Vatican, including those from religious orders, lay associations, and civil society. Such an approach is necessary to understand the complex interplay between central authority and peripheral actors within institutional Catholicism. (II) A central conceptual framework introduced in the volumes is the “theo-political imagination” of the papacy—its theological self-understanding and vision of its role in the Church and the world. This is juxtaposed to the praxis of papal politics, encompassing the papacy's engagement with domestic governance, civil society, and international diplomacy. The editors argue that the papacy's claims to universal and unchanging truths have always been mediated by historical contingencies and practical exigencies. The introduction revisits traditional narratives of papal monarchy, particularly those rooted in the Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Controversy. Drawing on Harold Berman's thesis in Law and Revolution, the editors highlight the eleventh-century transformation of the Church into a juridical and political entity.2 Canon law emerged as a central instrument of papal authority, regulating not only ecclesiastical affairs but also social practices such as marriage and property. The rediscovery of Roman law and the rise of universities provided the intellectual infrastructure for this legal revolution. Recent scholarship, however, has shifted focus from the consolidation of papal monarchy to the contestation and renegotiation of papal primacy. The editors emphasise the dynamic relationship between centre and periphery, noting that papal authority was often constrained by local conditions and resisted by secular powers. They also explore the papacy's use of soft power, particularly in the modern era, through mass media and global travel. Popes such as John Paul II and Francis I have harnessed new technologies to project papal influence and engage with diverse publics. In this manner, the papacy has shaped—and has been shaped by—normative patterns of social organisation, gender roles, and sexual ethics. Papal teachings on contraception, abortion, and homosexuality are situated within long-term historical developments rather than considered as static doctrinal positions. The editors call attention to the uneven development of papal historiography in these areas, which the volumes want to fill, noting the need for further research on clerical masculinity, sexual abuse, and the intersection of theology and social justice. They advocate for a more inclusive historiography that incorporates the voices of women, LGBTQ+ scholars, and marginalised communities, in the hope that they would offer a different glance to the papal “theo-political imagination.” It is now time to turn to the individual volumes for a closer analysis. The first volume, The Two Swords, traces the papacy's complex negotiations between spiritual and temporal power from its early medieval roots to the modern period. It charts the evolution of the papacy's claim to wield dual authority, symbolised by the metaphorical “two swords”—one spiritual and one temporal. The contributors skillfully examine key moments in the papacy's assertion of authority, such as the Gregorian reforms, the Investiture Controversy, and the Avignon Papacy. One of this volume's strengths is its ability to synthesise diverse historical contexts into a coherent narrative. For example, the chapters on the Gregorian reforms not only explore the theological underpinnings of these changes but also connect them to broader shifts in medieval society. By tracing Pope Gregory VII's determined effort to enforce clerical celibacy and assert papal independence, John Howe provides a vivid account of how ecclesiastical reforms intersected with wider social transformations. Similarly, the analysis of the Avignon Papacy by Blake Beattie deftly combines institutional history with cultural insights, offering a holistic re-examination of a period previously only interpreted through the lenses of decline and crisis. Topics usually devoted to a more traditional institutional history are given a fresh look. For example, Miles Pattenden's chapter explores the historical evolution and significance of papal elections and renunciations, situating them within broader institutional concerns about legitimacy, continuity, and authority. Tracing developments from apostolic succession myths to modern conclave procedures, the chapter highlights how electoral mechanisms have been shaped by political exigency and canonical reform. The establishment of the conclave system, particularly after the bull Ubi periculum (1274) and refinements under Gregory XV (Aeterni Patris Filius, 1621), reflects the Church's attempts to regulate succession and minimise factional interference. Despite reforms, elections remained deeply politicised, with secular vetoes (jus exclusivae) and cardinal factions shaping outcomes well into the modern era. Building on Pattenden also the of and papal elections as moments of cultural and and theological questions the nature of papal and its and Gregory canonical the modern role of chapter the historical of the papacy with From early and medieval to Renaissance and as a of temporal moments of papal and culminating in the and of papal The chapter challenges of papal a dynamic institution to and ideological Papal is also considered a in is John of pontificate as a moment in modern papal diplomacy. the a marked by rise in to Catholic was and the as an and and for a XV papal by international and shaping religious toward and engagement with marked early toward modern by the of the to pontificate the for Vatican the papacy's global Two the of historiography are also A chapter by examines the multifaceted relationship between the papacy and in the from to through historical theological the nature of papal temporal within the Papal and the role of the on papal as a for understanding papal in a broader framework that the of papal authority and the and ecclesiastical The chapter explores the papacy's including its theological and in the and as by a recent monograph by Drawing on from and the traces the evolution of particularly the of under the and in papal noting of in ecclesiastical The analysis to the and papal and patterns of and the between spiritual and Papal in and are presented as of ecclesiastical power Similarly, A. the papacy's response to in the the and theological shifts that on the that deeply with authority, to the Church from particularly from the period The Vatican to ecclesiastical continuity political examines papal the and which and of Church the Vatican to and the Church's and The of the and Pope Paul to symbolised this While like Pius on John and Paul more and global toward the A of the first volume of The Cambridge History of the Papacy is devoted to the of the papacy with the religious from the with the world by John and to the with in turn by and The and the by is, of course, A chapter by the papacy's response to from to the of the of in explores papal shaped by theological political and to address by the papacy's toward its for a general and the role of the Roman Inquisition in to regulate doctrinal and the Roman papal (e.g., over Church with to religious authority. A attention to the and on the by would have nevertheless in the papacy as one of the actors on the the was by a of the papacy by the between the Papacy and well beyond the of the the in the in of papal authority and religious to of The of the as and response through institutional consolidation and marked a in theological and Enlightenment to constrained by particularly papal primacy. the of for a of history as a of diverse but highlights how on Church history and political to doctrinal chapter in an analysis of noting for and Catholic like and reframing the use Paul not as but as in the that the papal authority claims and new be its A key of The Two is the relationship between the papacy and secular with on the papacy the time of the by and on social by Robert which to be a given the of the papal In explores the papacy's complex engagement with and interpreted these not merely as political but as and theological challenges to ecclesiastical authority. as a to and the religious and of Church and was as to the Catholic social order. and as and attempts to them through Catholic social with the of in a more in its was as to chapter how the papacy resisted and to with its ideological the primacy of ecclesiastical authority in the of social and political This is a in across the first adaptation, and by claims of continuity are in the history of the The volume, The Governance of the Church, shifts the focus to examine the and that papal authority. It offers a analysis of the and a account of the mechanisms through which the papacy its A fascinating chapter by John the and the A explores the and internal of the Roman Church from the first century to late with the between vision of and Pope traces the of the examines the of often by and the claims of papal in the Liber secular in their use of and for canonical against the within the clerical presenting the distinct of and and the political of often to the among particularly between and by for and Papal succession these with more than to that the Roman Church, from from secular society, was deeply within and its internal and clerical broader patterns of late Roman of of authority and attempts are of a in the history of the the of such in the Vatican situated within the broader of and the of papal temporal power, that the of was a response to and for a new of traces how to the a by mass and institutional reforms that in the of law and the of the Roman In the the papacy its role as a and actor under and Pius and its centrality under Pius and Pius examines the between Roman authority and the rise of theological and the challenges by critiques. Vatican II as a pivotal moment of the of papal primacy was through the of and chapter traces the institutional evolution of the of from its by Paul in to its under Pope Francis as a the remained to papal primacy and the Roman under John Paul II and Pope Francis has the as a for governance, and and global highlights the between authority and broader the as a pivotal for Vatican in Church The volume also provides an of the tracing its evolution from a to a complex of with to examine the and from to the development of the of from the of to the Papal chapter the institutional and ideological evolution of the Roman as the and as the for the of the It examines its transformation from a with and doctrinal in the early modern period to a modern with within a global One of the of this volume is its on the development of law as a critical for papal authority. The chapters on the legal reforms of the and and are particularly how legal not only the papacy's institutional framework but also shaped its with secular For example, the of by Melodie H. and its on the of law the pivotal role of legal in papal authority. are the chapters that examine the papacy's particularly the development of and The analysis of the Avignon papal in provides a fascinating into how with spiritual The of this is devoted to the history and development of the Papal are the chapters by on the period and that by on the nineteenth The first offers a analysis of the and historiographical evolution of the papacy's temporal the of spiritual and temporal authority in the early modern tracing the consolidation of papal power through and reform. examines the historiographical of the Papal often by Renaissance and and to the the in papal and local The chapter explores the complex of the Papal the of and and the between central authority and local The of governance, the rise of the of the and social that marked the in the century under and Pius have all been given a fresh look. The of the and is as a that and the of by the Roman to examine the of the Papal from to on and in the of the that papal domestic under Pius Gregory and Pius and by and clerical for lay and secularisation and the rise of in the by and to papal but local and the of papal on and the including and by the of papal authority. Reform attempts by figures like and by clerical and Pius to and the of that the papacy's to spiritual with temporal governance, with its on of the of culminating in the of the Papal in This volume's to the understanding of institutional history are By the internal of papal governance, the mechanisms that the papacy to its authority across diverse historical and cultural contexts. The ability to and of papal a vivid of the institutional Church as a spiritual and The volume, Civil Society, explores the papacy's engagement with broader societal and cultural with a particular on the modern era. This volume an of including the papacy's influence on gender and global It also the challenges by secularisation and the papacy's to in an world. A of this volume is its For the chapters on and not only examine the of papal but also its political and theological The analysis of by for example, situates these within the of the Renaissance to project spiritual and temporal Similarly, the of gender by and highlights the papacy's role in shaping societal toward and and offers nuanced into the in which papal teachings on marriage and intersected with broader cultural and offers a thematic and analysis of the papacy's role in shaping marriage and and significance as a of with the to papal from late to the modern era. canonical such as the clerical and the on and traces the development of papal authority over from on to the Gregorian of clerical celibacy and the of explores the of to the and and the of the evolution of these The also the papacy's of into and the legal of the interplay between theology and the role of like the of the and the Inquisition in complex and shaping with a of modern papal from to as for doctrinal continuity and The chapter papal marriage law as a coherent system, deeply rooted in and to shifting social and legal contexts. chapter that as a is a modern from papal a of and theological traces how papal authority shaped within and the of sexual only within examines the theological and juridical from through the of and into the of between and the of clerical and the of also explores the Church's of including for and Papal often and to the papacy's on homosexuality and that of have to ecclesiastical authority. 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The chapter by that the Church's on its authority and among and and in the chapter offers a nuanced of papal as a theological and a of and with a different traces the papal from medieval to that are not but are of ecclesiastical From to have to to Vatican call for its in Francis's to the a on in their in a or in a practical in a global Despite its Civil offers a of the papacy's cultural and societal By the in which the papacy has and been shaped broader this volume highlights the dynamic interplay between religious authority and cultural The volume's ability to engage with a diverse of its to a of The papacy in the century is a While is in and is in traditional such as and The papacy challenges to its particularly the role of in Church The by Pope Francis has with the of and marginalised from The editors of The Cambridge History of the Papacy that papal historiography with these and from the They call for a of the that beyond narratives and with the papacy's role in and The for in the a critical in the history of the that new and The Cambridge History of the Papacy the for a and critical of the papacy as a historical institution. It challenges narratives of continuity and the papacy's for and its role in global By analysis with and by the interplay between theology, politics, and the volumes offer a framework for understanding the papacy's and not of by the papacy, like the present how the institution is and how central the of the papacy is to be to development in the history of the The editors the need for new interpretative that the papacy's and its to and global to a time recent have to be in the in response to and A and approach that situates papal within broader of international and would be – but of this work is The Cambridge History of the Papacy a historiographical the intersection of traditional ecclesiastical history and the more approaches that have shaped the historical the by works such as Ludwig von to a or the and spiritual of the papacy in a and By these volumes reflect not only the shifts that the Vatican but also the broader developments in historical scholarship, particularly the turn toward and global the series with historiographical that power, and the of religious authority. It incorporates from gender and the of global that if not in of the In to a and more robust understanding of the A about The Cambridge History of the is this a historiographical of or a new of The only 83 the and of and but the volumes across as coherent and well of the reader in these pages is a consolidation of the and an account of is But the and further of are In these three volumes are a and for which the editors should be are not