Symbols as Power deals with the period between the end of the Investiture Contest in 1122 and the re-establishment of the Roman Senate in 1143. It was a time of transition when popes had to chart new policies relating to the church and the empire.
This study concentrates on information encoded in such media as art, architecture, ecclesiastical furniture, pageantry and liturgy. Combined with written sources it analyzes the ideology and policies of each of the four popes reigning in this period. In some cases they manipulated these media as propaganda, and in others their views were less consciously subsumed in the object or ceremony. Strong currents drew the papacy in opposite directions - back towards its apostolic origins, and forward toward a more secular, imperial papacy. All of the popes but one chose the path leading to papal monarchy at the end of the century. Anaclet II, who lost the battle for recognition as pope in the schism of 1130-1138, identified more with the paleochristian church and its religious orientation.
This book illuminates a crucial moment in the papal quest for reform and power in both the ecclesiastical and secular spheres.
Not only scholars in the field, but also advanced and graduate students interested in iconography and papal politics will find it provocative and enlightening.