ΜcKITTERICK R. ROME AND THE INVENTION OF PAPACY: THE LIBER PONTIFICALIS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. 271 p.
The review considers the latest book by R. McKitterick, British medievalist, on the history of the early medieval papacy as reflected in the Liber Pontificalis (The Book of Popes), created in the first decades of the VI th century and then extended and completed till the IXth century. Attention is paid to the structure of the monograph, its argumentation and conclusions, as well as to the author’s general historical views important for the consideration of the problem. R. McKitterick analyzes this remarkable and influential text, examines its historical context, its content, and its textual transmission. She makes an emphasis on the representation of the early medieval popes’ authority, as it is presented in the «Liber Pontificalis», as well as on the narrative strategies allowing to shape and transfer this image. The reviewer notes the high quality of the research, at the same time stating certain flaws. Among them are the perception of the Papacy itself and its selfrepresentation as somewhat static and insufficient attention to the language and the style of the source.