I want to learn more about the history of the Catholic Church, what are some good sources/books?

by imSOsalty

I want to learn more about the history of the church, I’m interested in learning about it’s spread and the papacy, and really anything else. What would be some good things for me to read?

sunagainstgold
  • Peter Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom
  • (more textbooky) Donald Logan, A History of the Church in the Middle Ages
  • Jo Ann McNamara, Sisters in Arms: Nuns Through Two Millennia
  • John O'Malley, The Jesuits: A History from Ignatius to the Present
  • Justo Gonzalez, Christianity in Latin America: A History

The volumes in the "People's History of Christianity" series are also very good if you are interested in daily life, what people did and believed, as opposed to just theologians and monks. They are not exclusively Catholic in focus, but sometimes that is more enlightening because you can see the similarities and exchanges with various other denominations.