This highly original study examines the history and religious life of the Ottonian Church through its ritual books. With forensic attention to the writing and design of four important manuscripts from the city of Mainz - a musician's troper, a priest's ritual handbook, a bishop's pontifical and a copy of the enigmatic compilation now known as the 'Romano-German Pontifical' - Henry Parkes transforms liturgical sources into eloquent witnesses to the ecclesiastical history of early medieval Germany. He also presents the first comprehensive revision of Michel Andrieu's influential 'Romano-German Pontifical' theory, from the dual perspective of Mainz's cathedral of St Martin and its Benedictine monastery of St Alban. Challenging long-held assumptions about the geographies of Ottonian power, in particular the central role of Mainz and its archbishops, the book opens up important new ways of understanding how religious ritual was organised, transmitted and perceived.
