The Lives of the Popes in the Middle Ages. By
the Rev. Horace K. Mann. Vols. VI.-VII. (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co. 12s. net per vol.)—Dr. Mann has now reached, not a little to his satisfac- tion, it may be supposed, the period of the "Gregorian Renaissance," which he makes to cover about a century (1049-1150). In the first of the two volumes now before us Leo Ix. is the outstanding figure ; in the second the great Hildebrand (Gregory VII.), whose influence, it must be remembered, was an important factor in history for some years before he ascended the Papal throne. The great event of Leo's reign was the formal enunciation of the doctrine of Transubstantiation ; Gregory's activity was in the sphere of action. He asserted the dominance of the spiritual over the temporal, sometimes, Dr. Mann thinks, in words which meant more than he really intended. But what spiritual supremacy actually means no one knows, probably not the Pope himself. Logically there can be no limit to it. Dr. Mann's work continues to show all the careful research and literary ability which we have been accustomed to find in it.
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