Late Medieval Papal Legation

Between the Councils and the Reformation

by Antonin Kalous

Book cover: Late Medieval Papal Legation

Extent: 258 pages

Publisher: Viella – libreria editrice

Subjects: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies

Series: Viella History, Art and Humanities Collection

Series volume number: 3

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(November 2017)

ISBN: 9788867289424

Price: $41.00

Out of stock

This volume is a result of long term study of papal legates in the late medieval period. Even though this crucial institution of the reform papacy of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries kept its standards as designed in the classical canon law, it was transformed according to the current needs of the papacy in later periods.


Late Medieval Papal Legation is a result of long term study of papal legates in the late medieval period. Even though this crucial institution of the reform papacy of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries kept its standards as designed in the classical canon law, it was transformed according to the current needs of the papacy in later periods. A substantial change came after the conciliar crisis and before the radical transformation of the first half of the sixteenth century. In the second half of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, papal legates de latere, as cardinals, travelled all around Europe in support of the recovered papal authority after the conciliar period and before the outbreak of the German Reformation.

  • By (author) Antonin Kalous

". . . the text is specific and comprehensive, and is meant primarily for specialists concerned with the development of papal legates and legations in the high and late medieval periods. The skillful use of tables and visual images helps with the reader's understanding of this complex subject. The work certainly fills the literature gap on the history, role and import of papal legates leading up to and including the second half of the fifteenth century." --Sisson, Keith, Johns Hopkins University