The article is devoted to analysis of the treatise “Church History” (“Memoirs of the Papal Court”) by John of Salisbury (1115/1120-1180), an outstanding English diplomat, thinker and writer who wrote this work in exile and dedicated it to the events of the 40s-50s of the XII century, related to the life of the papal court. The treatise is located at the junction of medieval historiography and political literature, contains autobiographical and memoir elements, representing a work written by an eyewitness to the events. The author identifies rhetorical and stylistic techniques for depicting events of the past, proving that “Church History” (“Memoirs of the Papal Court”) is not only echoes the earlier works of the thinker, but also a conscious “commentary” on many ideas and observations previously expressed by John. The treatise, written at the very time of the confrontation between the king’s power and the English Church, demonstrates and explains the internal logic of the processes that contributed to the separation of European elites and clergy, who could not or did not want to support archbishop Thomas Becket in his dispute with Henry II Plantagenet.
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