Table of Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1 Exceptionalism 5
Three Treaties About Power and Money Changed Europe 8
Think of Popes and Kings as Self-interested 11
Short-Term Decisions, Lasting Consequences 15
Europe: Unexpected Exceptionalism 17
Europe's Unique Feature 24
Chapter 2 Two Swords, One Church 27
Iconoclasm, the Papal States, and Escape from Constantinople 28
The Birth of Papal Nepotism 30
Papal Maneuvers to Increase Political Power 35
The Struggle over the Investiture of Bishops 39
The Pope's War with the Holy Roman Emperor 47
Chapter 3 The Concordat Game 59
The Terms of the Concordats 60
The Process of Bishop Selection Before the Concordats 73
The Concordat Game 78
Key Implications of the Concordat Game 89
Chapter 4 Secularism Surges 95
The Game's Third Outcome: Avignon and Rebellion Against the Church 96
The Church's Changing Use of Punishment 98
The Secularization of Bishops 104
The Wealth of Dioceses 107
Wealth and the Secularization of Bishops: A First Test 107
Assessing the Expected Costs of Defying the Church 109
Wealthy Sees for Secular Bishops and Poor Sees for Religious Bishops 113
Chapter 5 The Road to Prosperity 119
Maneuvers to Influence Economic Growth 124
Four Lateran Councils: Combating Secular Economic Growth 137
Secular Maneuvers for Growth 151
Growth, Crusades, and the Commercial Revolution 155
Chapter 6 The Road to Papal Serfdom and Liberation 167
Gamble on Bishops, Gamble on Vacant Sees 169
Breaking from the Church: French Wealth and the Avignon Papacy 174
Testing When France Was Ready to Rebel 176
The Church Contemplates Reform; Protestants Rebel 183
Art and the Rise of Secularism 195
Chapter 7 The Birth of States, the Birthing of Representative Democracy 199
The Concordat: A Step Toward Modern Sovereignty 202
War and Accountability 210
War and State Building 216
The Concordats and Accountable States 218
Secularism, Wealth, and Parliaments 230
Rubber Stamps or Real Parliaments 235
Did Parliaments Help or Hurt Monarchs? 238
Chapter 8 Today 253
The Altered Tides of Power 258
The Concordats and Today's Quality of Life 265
Innovation and Discovery 280
Insights for Today 286
Acknowledgments 293
Notes 297
Bibliography 311
Index 321