The Reformation of the Twelfth Century

"Constable elucidates such complex relationships without reducing them to simplistic generalizations, an observation that applies to the book as a whole. Throughout the author presents a tremendous wealth of detail without confining it to a merely illustrative role; his analysis is seen to grow out of the data. If this practice tends, at times, to obscure the line of argument, it is a small price to pay for a work that magnifidently recreates a complex watershed in the history of Christianity." Paul W. Robinson, Concordia Journal

"This is indeed a highly significant work, which should receive the attention of those similarly intrigued by the problems to which the twelfth-century 'reformation' and the accompanying vita apostolica gave rise." Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies

"...this volume is an important contribution toward understanding the changes, the complexities, and especially the continuities in religious life of twelfth-century Europe." Kathleen G. Cushing, Church History

"Those interested in exploring the dynamics of historical change in the abstract with a text-based approach may find this work worth their while. But those who want to understand high medieval society from the perspective of one of its most pervasive voices, the monastic, will find it as probing and fruitful a discussion as any modern historian has given us." Richard W.Pfaff, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"The book that [Constable] has provided is a goldmine, from which many of us can find the gold we seek." The Medieval Review

"This is a book of extraordinary erudition, the fruit of a lifetime devoted to the study of medieval religious life. An examplar of all the strengths of traditional scholarship on the Middle Ages, it is also revolutionary. ...Constable ahas provided an interpretive framwork that will both fokster research on the religious mentalities of this period and channel debate on their meaning and significance." Maureen C. Miller, American Historical Review

"Giles Constable is probably the most distinguished living authority on medieval monasticism. The book that he has provided is a goldmine, from which many of us can find the gold we seek." Constant Mews, The Medieval Review

"He examines the reformers, the circumstances, and the types of reform; the hopes and ideals of the reformers; how the reforms were put into practice in the monasteries; the monks and secular society; and the spirituality of the reformers." Theology Digest