The Church in the Medieval Town

The Church in the Medieval Town. Edited by T.R. Slater and Gervase Rosser. Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate Variorum, 1998. xiv + 307 pp. $87.95 cloth.

This volume of twelve essays presents conclusions from a five-year research seminar funded at the University of Birmingham by the Leverhulme Trust. The purpose of the project was to view the impact of the church on the medieval towns from a multidisciplinary perspective (that is, employing documentary history, geography, and archaeology). The book's first six chapters trace social and economic interactions between towns and various kinds of ecclesiastical institutions. The last six concern themselves with more material things-church buildings. Although the essays were inspired by a common research interest, their conclusions do not fit together to create the comprehensive overview of the subject implied by the book's title. Some chapters have overlapping interests, and some questions (for example, chantries, hospitals, and so on) receive little attention. Most of the articles chosen for inclusion in the book are limited, narrowly focused studies of specific places, and their authors are reluctant to generalize from their findings. A few contributors to the project did address broader issues or venture more sweeping conclusions. Some of the volume's most intriguing ideas are...