The Papacy, Scotland and Northern England, 1342-1378

This is the first analysis of the full breadth of papal involvement in late medieval Britain, using local sources in conjunction with material from the Vatican Archives. It deals with the Avignon Papacy's relations with Scotland and northern England during a period in which papal involvement at the local level was unusually wide-ranging, but still was generally accepted. It examines how papal practices affected both clerics and lay people in northern Britain, the nature and importance of any opposition aroused, and how far the popes and their agents had to adapt to local circumstances.