Joseph Canning is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Wales, Bangor. He is the author of The Political Thought of Baldus de Ubaldis (1987).

• Preface; Introduction; 1 THE ORIGINS OF MEDIEVAL POLITICAL IDEAS, c. 300–c. 750 ; Byzantium: the Christian Empire; The West ; Christian kingship; Kingship and priesthood; The claims of the papacy; The Christian world-view and its implications for the state; 2 THE GROWTH OF SPECIFICALLY MEDIEVAL POLITICAL IDEAS, c. 750–c. 1050; Carolingian political ideas; Theocratic monarchy; Consent and fidelity; The transpersonal dimension; Ideas of empire; Political ideas, c. 900–c. 1050; Rome-based emperorship; Imperial kingship; 3 POLITICAL IDEAS IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES, c. 1050–c. 1290; Spiritual and secular power, c. 1050–c. 1150; The languages for political thought: the revived legacy of antiquity; Classical-literary: John of Salisbury; The language of Roman and canon law; Aristotelian language; 4 POLITICAL IDEAS IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES, c. 1290–c. 1450; Ideas of church and of state, c. 1290–c. 1350; The conflicts between Philip IV and Boniface VIII; Italy: scholastic ideas and the myth of Rome; Marsilius of Padua and William of Ockham; Juristic thought; The ruler’s will and the normative structure; Territorial sovereignty; Corporation theory; Conciliar ideas; Origins; The Great Schism and the Councils of Pisa and Constance ; The Council of Basel; Conclusion

'The work of a scholar who is fully aware of the distinctive character and importance of all the sources he has to consider and who can evaluate the evidence in the context of a thorough knowledge and understanding of the societies that generated those sources.Canning has written one of those rare books which can be unreservedly recommended.' - Ecclesiastical History