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Clerics and Clansmen: The Diocese of Argyll between the Twelfth and Sixteenth Centuries
Author(s): Iain MacDonald (Author)
- Publisher: Brill
- Publication Date: February 15, 2013
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 468 pages
- ISBN-10: 900418547X
- ISBN-13: 9789004185470
Book Description
The Highlander has never enjoyed a good press, and has been usually characterised as peripheral and barbaric in comparison to his Lowland neighbour, more inclined to fighting than serving God. In Clerics and Clansmen Iain MacDonald examines how the medieval Church in Gaelic Scotland, often regarded as isolated and irrelevant, continued to function in the face of poverty, periodic warfare, and the formidable powers of the clan chiefs. Focusing upon the diocese of Argyll, the study analyses the life of the bishopric, before broadening to consider the parochial clergy – in particular origins, celibacy, education, and pastoral care. Far from being superficial, it reveals a Church deeply embedded within its host society while remaining plugged into the mainstream of Latin Christendom.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Iain G. MacDonald, Ph.D. (2009) in History, University of Glasgow, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the British Academy. He has written several articles on the late medieval Church in Argyll and Gaelic Scotland, and is currently researching Highland Hospitality.
