Few readers of this journal will be unaware of the unique contribution made by Professor Norman Doe to the study of law and religion, not just in England and Wales but across Europe and around the world. Originally a legal historian (his PhD thesis was published by Cambridge University Press as Fundamental Authority in Late Medieval English Law), Professor Doe's venture into the world of ecclesiastical law in the early 1990s reignited the academic study of a subject which, outside the Pontifical universities, had become largely obsolete. From the publication of seminal works on the law of individual churches and the interface of religion and the civil law, to his original and pioneering work on common legal principles as instruments of unity within the Anglican Communion and beyond, and in teaching, not least in the creation of an LLM in Canon Law at the University of Cardiff in 1991 and the establishment of the internationally respected Centre of Law and Religion, there is no question that Norman Doe is responsible for forming the modern canonical tradition in the Church of England and beyond.

The publication of this Festschrift, which was presented to Professor Doe at the conclusion of the Law and Religion Scholars Network (LARSN) conference in May 2016, is timely, not least because 2016 coincided with the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Cardiff LLM in Canon Law. The success of the LLM has not just been the establishment of leading canonical scholars educated and inspired by Professor Doe's teaching, but also the collegiality and conviviality that has run through the course, which is taught by way of residential weekends. It is unsurprising that three of the four editors of this volume are themselves graduates of the LLM course; the fourth, Russell Sandberg, completed undergraduate studies at Cardiff and a PhD under the supervision of Norman Doe.

This collection of essays is organised into four sections, deliberately and appropriately tracking the four modules of the LLM course: ‘Conceptual foundations and historical development’, ‘Government and ministry’, ‘Doctrine, liturgy and rites’ and ‘The interface of religious law and civil law’. One of Professor Doe's achievements in the area of canon law has been to show its interdisciplinary nature: it can best be understood in relation to theological, historical, philosophical and sociological insights. Hence in the section on conceptual foundations and historical development there are essays on changing conceptualisations of religion in the way that the judiciary had to confront questions surrounding definitions of religion and worship, and on the nature of legal authority and understandings of the terms ‘trust’ and ‘conscience’ in the early common law, and a contribution on the sociology of law on religion. The section on government and ministry includes chapters on the rise of quasi-legislation, the growth of canon law and regulation in the worldwide Anglican Communion, and a fascinating piece from Frank Cranmer on whether non-Trinitarian Christians operate under canonical norms.

From an interdisciplinary perspective, clearly the interface between theology and law is central, and thus in the third section, on doctrine, liturgy and rites, this relationship is explored. When the LLM began 25 years ago the course focused on the law of the Church of England, gradually expanding into the law of the Church in Wales. Comparative work with the ecclesiastical law of other denominations was also developed, and there are now forays into comparative work with the law governing other world faiths. There are thus essays on the sacrament of penance in the Roman Catholic Church, on freedom of conscience in both the secular and canonical traditions, and on the ways in which faiths perceive the efforts of the state to regulate their faith, through the lens of Judaism.

It is in the topic of the fourth part, the interface of religious law and civil law, that Doe's contribution is unique, for the way that civil law affects faith communities has become not just a hot topic in the political sphere but also a mainstream discipline, thanks in part (in the words of Mark Hill) to the ‘midwifery skills Doe exhibited in the academic delivery room’ (p 13). There are thus chapters on how far the right of freedom of religion is protected, an analysis of Doe's principles of European religion law in relation to human rights and discrimination, an essay on coercion, oath and conscience, and a current assessment by Baroness Hale of the nature of religious freedom and the law. Final chapters of the collection look at the role of religion in building political communities, the interdisciplinary growth of law and religion; and finally, Celia Kenny looks at new directions in the confluence of law and religion, with an emphasis on both legal and religious pluralism.

Many of the contributors to this volume were students of Professor Doe; all have been greatly influenced by his work. It is thus unsurprising that many of the themes of Doe's work pervade throughout: the distinction between ‘religion law’ and ‘religious law’, the interdisciplinary nature of the study of canon law, the understanding of canon law as ‘applied ecclesiology’ and, of course, the use of common legal norms and principles to reach a shared understanding between churches, denominations and other faiths.

This collection of essays does exactly what a Festschrift should do: it celebrates the varied and remarkable achievements to date of a leading scholar, but it is also replete with original research which raises questions as to new areas to be explored in this wide-ranging discipline. Norman Doe's visionary work, which this volume celebrates, has not just brought about a renaissance in the academic study of canon law but has also created a new and varied community of canonists, educated, inspired and mentored by Doe. The final word should be that of Rowan Williams, who, as Archbishop of Canterbury, conferred a Lambeth Doctorate of Civil Law upon Professor Doe (by his authority given under the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533) in recognition of Norman Doe's unique contribution to the study of canon law. Williams concludes his foreword by saying