DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-1076-8.06 ISSN: 2704-6362

Structure, dynamics, and transformation of the ecclesia: the long Middle Ages or an ecclesiastical revolution?

Michel Lauwers
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This article addresses the specificity of the 11th and 12th centuries within the framework of the ‘long Middle Ages’ as defined by Jacques Le Goff. Moving beyond a focus on the clergy alone, it examines the ecclesial dimension of social organization, as articulated through the concept of ecclesia. On the basis of a synthetic analysis of archaeological and historical evidence from Western Europe, the study seeks to document and characterize the successive phases of a so-cial dynamic generated by the establishment and subsequent proliferation of places of worship. It distinguishes two successive processes: an initial phase of social polarization, followed by a phase of territorialization in the organization of society. Within this broader trajectory, the article situates and evaluates the effects of the transformation of ecclesiastical institutions, a process often associated with what is conventionally termed the ‘Gregorian Reform’.

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