The Expression of Authority in Twelfth-Century English Episcopal Charters

My thesis examines the development of language expressing authority (auctoritas) in twelfth-century English episcopal acta, or charters. A close analysis of these acta reveals that specific words and formulae were employed to express episcopal authority, depending on the business being recorded, the bishop’s role, and who the interested parties were. Bishops, and those drafting their documents, carefully considered how to express episcopal authority and developed a nuanced view of how this authority should be expressed throughout the century. The vocabulary of twelfth-century bishops’ charters provides important insights into contemporary ideas and norms about the office of bishop. There are two parts to my thesis. The three chapters comprising Part One provide the contextual background for the three dioceses whose charters I examine: York, Norwich, and Worcester. The twelfth-century prelates and their dioceses are introduced, as well as major events that impacted their episcopates. Part Two contains five chapters analysing the acta. Chapter Four examines charters about episcopal property, demonstrating that bishops employed discrete language, particularly possessive adjectives and emphatic pronouns, to express their secular authority as landlord. The following three chapters, Five–Seven, discuss the language of acta regarding disputes. Chapter Five examines York, Chapter Six Worcester, and Chapter Seven Norwich. The bishop’s presence and personal involvement are strongly expressed in dispute charters. Acta issued in the bishops’ capacity as papal judges-delegate are also considered. The eighth chapter considers acta issued for cathedral communities. These documents demonstrate that before c. 1150, the singular and plural were used separately to delineate bishops’ roles as individuals and as representatives of their church. My thesis demonstrates how the ecclesiastical hierarchy thought about and understood the authority they wielded during a time when the nature of episcopal rule was becoming more documentary and bureaucratic.