The differentiation of authority: the medieval turn toward existence

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Books mean different things to different people. For me, the manuscript in its final appearance as a book is not unlike the lifetime of a beloved pet: messy, frustrating, but eminently worth it in the end, it also functions as something of a chronicle of one’s own life. And much has happened since its inception as a discussion with Brendan Purcell of University College Dublin. His suggestion to go back to the Middle Ages and “poke around” for loose strands of meaning in the formation of Western society has proven to be one of the most fruitful pokings around that I have ever done. His brilliant advice, gentle criticism, and, most of all, his razor wit have underpinned the entire project from the beginning. I would also like to thank Gerard Casey, also of University College Dublin, for helping me to just get writing in the first place and for pushing me to the finish line. I met Jim Kruggel, acquisitions editor for the the Catholic University of America Press, at a conference and was immediately impressed. He has been extremely professional, helpful, and kind at each of the various stages of production. Later on, the manuscript received careful reading from the reviewers selected by the press: Barry Cooper and Bjorn Thommassen . I appreciate their being so generous with their time and their comments. In addition, Philip G. Holthaus has provided skillful copyediting of the manuscript. Final revisions and indexing were subject to vii some vital intervention from Ana Olivares and Matthew Magliacane of St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas. I want to thank the University of Missouri Press for their permission to reprint many extracts from Eric Voegelin’s History of Political Ideas. Reprinted from The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Volumes 19–22, History of Political Ideas, Volumes 1–4, by permission of the University of Missouri Press. Copyright © 1997–1998 by the Curators of the University of Missouri. All of my family contributed in their own ways over the years and I am deeply indebted to each one. Finally, and going back to that “bookas -chronicle” business, I want to thank Wendy, whom I married along the way and who has been a source of daily encouragement and revitalization . It is to her that I dedicate the book. viii Acknowldegments The Differentiation of Authority ...