The Papacy in Late Antiquity (2008-2010)

The proposal seeks to account for the extraordinary rise in the power of the papacy during the period of late antiquity, which saw it develop from the modest position it held in the early church to assume much of the authority it has possessed since then. It will do this by using hitherto overlooked evidence and by utilizing familiar material in new ways. The expected outcome is a new explanatory paradigm, which will find expression in two books and a series of articles in top journals.