John A. Dempsey, Bonizo of Sutri: Portrait in a Landscape. Lanham, Boulder, New York, and London: Lexington Books, 2023, xv, 369 pp., 1 map.

The eleventh century witnessed already major social and religious unrest, which was, in a way, foreshadowing many historical events in the late Middle Ages, targeting shortcomings of the clergy, such as simony and generally priests’ worldly lifestyles, which then also gained rather quickly a major political dimension. The group behind the uprising in Milan and other parts of northern Italy is known as the Pataria, which was perhaps best represented by Bishop Bonizo of Sutri, to whom John A. Dempsey had dedicated his doctoral dissertation from the Boston University in 2006. In the years since then, he published several articles focusing on special aspects in Bonizo’s life and works, and now we have the much-revised dissertation in print. Dempsey took note of some of the newer research since 2005, but his study still seems a little outdated. Nevertheless, we quickly realize that this is a truly dense and detailed investigation both of the Pataria and of Bonizo, a major player in this entire movement. After Walter Berschin’s study on this bishop’s life from 1972, Dempsey’s monograph proves to be a major steppingstone forward in this historical field especially because the author expands the biographical approach and contextualizes Bonizo’s contributions within the entire Pataria history.