This book surveys the history of clerical armsbearing from the High Middle Ages to the present day and answers the question whether, contrary to popular belief, the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches have always had an absolute ban in their canon law codes on the clergy carrying weapons. Lawrence Duggan clearly states in the introduction that he tried to balance inserting his opinion into the work while also letting the primary sources speak for themselves. He also indicates that the book is meant to be accessible to the general public.
For the most part, the book does what the author intends. Duggan's writing is usually clear and at times humorous, although occasionally key sentences have been overworked and, thus, overcomplicated. The introduction sets the scene well, presenting the subject matter, the difficulties with certain synod and local church council documents (the bulk of his primary source research), and provides an overview of terminology. It introduces the reader to several sets of problems beyond the familiar lack of surviving primary sources from the medieval period. These further problems include whether the ban applied to all levels of clerics and the fact that the church often issued separate legislation for the clergy and those in religious orders. He also lays out issues with translating certain Latin words that were perhaps purposely kept vague, such as the various words which could either mean knife or sword.
Particularly helpful to undergraduates or those new to the field, the book is well organized and clearly lays out the arguments. A topic is introduced, followed by succinct historical context, and then further specific details of the topic are given. Chapter one provides an introduction to a number of infamous clerics who were involved in warfare, if not always clearly bearing arms, while chapter two supplies the various opinions concerning clerical armsbearing from the Middle Ages through the modern era. One thing the book does particularly well is differentiate opinion, even of major church writers, from what actually appears in canon law. It also provides thought-provoking discussion of how bishops needed to translate the increasingly complicated legalese in medieval canon law into short, basic statements for their diocesan synods. The first two chapters can, however, grow dry and it is hard to engage with the author's argument until the third chapter. Chapters three to five form the heart of the book and provide an overview of not only the various canons and papal decrees which address the clergy and arms, but also the historical context and shifts in theological thought which appear before changes in canon law. The final chapter, an examination of the English church (later the Church of England), best showcases his arguments and underscores the persistent and incorrect belief that the English clergy have consistently been banned from bearing of arms in all occasions.
The author does succeed in keeping the text from becoming too dense and keeps footnotes from taking over pages. However, given the great range in both time and material which he covers, at points the footnotes seem underwhelming given the breadth of information. Additionally, considering the goal of keeping this book accessible for a general audience, when going over theological or philosophical thought of important thinkers, a bit more space could have been devoted to explaining these concepts and arguments.
The scope of the survey is impressive, with Spanish examples expertly woven in with more familiar French, German, and English armed clerics. Particularly well done is the fact that cases from the German episcopate and the Crusader States are not allowed to dominate the discussion, giving this book a true feeling of being a survey of western Europe. However, while the introduction generally sets out the limits of the study, what exactly the areas meant by Western Christianity are is not included. The focus largely remains on the western European regions, yet there are occasional mentions of events in the kingdoms of Poland and Hungry. Yet, no indication is given as to whether these areas are truly part of the survey and, if they are, why they are not included more often.
The final chapter is a case study of the English Church, which ties all of Duggan's themes together. It examines various canons issued and discusses the opinions of multiple writers from the early eleventh century through the twentieth. Overall it is a fascinating chapter as Duggan clearly demonstrates how the belief that Anglican canons placed a continual absolute ban on clerical armsbearing entered into mainstream consciousness and still remains there to this day. One issue is that he discusses the early eleventh-century Archbishop Wulfstan of York and his canon law collection, which banned the clergy bearing arms, with no mention of several of Wulfstan's other works. Particularly, Wulfstan is believed to have penned the Canons of Edgar (#46) and The Northumbrian Priests’ Law (#37), which both mention that clerics should not bring weapons into a church (both works are easily accessible in Councils & Synods with Other Documents Relating to the English Church A.D. 871–1204, ed. D. Whitelock, M. Brett, and C.N.L. Brooke [Oxford: Clarendon, 1981]). Given Duggan's interest in local ecclesiastical proclamations and using this particular kingdom as a case study, this is a small but glaring oversight which weakens the beginning of his argument.
This book is a must read for undergraduates or anyone else being introduced to the subject, particularly those interested in this topic's development from the High Middle Ages through the modern period. It provides a breadth of examples not found in earlier works. Duggan deftly handles multiple layers by expertly exploringopinion versus official church statement, the many levels of ecclesiastical administration, and the problems that came about as the church became more of a “legal machine” (123) and lays them out clearly for the reader.
