ABSTRACT
The bishop was unquestionably one of the most important individuals of the European Middle Ages. It is hard to think of an area of daily life, at any time, where his influence was not felt to some degree. From the summits of worldly power to the most remote rural pastures, in cities and on battlefields, men and women of every rank and station felt his presence in their lives. The bishop was directly responsible for every soul in his diocese, mighty and meek. His church, the cathedral, was typically the largest structure for miles around, looming over town walls, dwarfing all but the grandest abbeys in its precincts. He administered the wealthiest land-holding institution of the medieval period, overseeing its fields and streams, its produce, its free and unfree residents and servants, and its armed men. The bishop communed with God and his saints. He judged and corrected his fellow man. He did not simply stand at the center of things-he was the center.
