By describing the history of the Church's laws and institutions, the author highlights the fundamental aspects of its past and underlines the fact that the development of the Catholic Church's legal system over the past two thousand years has been of the utmost importance in its impact on society. By combining the history of the sources of law with that of the institutions and, in turn, relating them both to the Church's theological model, the author draws a clear picture of the great institutional changes which took place during the various periods. Particular reference is made to the relations between religious and political powers, the Papacy and the Episcopate, the universal church and the local church, the hierarchy and the lay state. This is a well laid-out manual on the history of canon law which should prove to be extremely useful to law students, and of particular interest to graduate students.

Carlo Fantappi teaches History of Religious Institutions and Canon law at the University of Urbino.