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    Church Courts and the People in Seventeenth-Century England

    Ecclesiastical justice in peril at Winchester, Worcester and Wells

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    Author(s)
    Thomson, Andrew
    Language
    English
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    Abstract
    Religion meant far more in early modern England than church on Sundays, a baptism, a funeral or a wedding ceremony. The Church was fully enmeshed in the everyday lives of the people; in particular, their morals and religious observance. The Church imposed comprehensive regulations on its flock, such as sex before marriage, adultery and receiving the sacrament, and it employed an army of informers and bureaucrats, headed by a diocesan chancellor, to enable its courts to enforce the rules. Church courts lay, thus, at the very intersection of Church and people. The courts of the seventeenth century – when ‘a cyclonic shattering’ produced a ‘great overturning of everything in England’ – have, surprisingly, had to wait until now for scrutiny. Church Courts and the People in Seventeenth-Century England offers a detailed survey of three dioceses across the whole of the century, examining key aspects such as attendance at court, completion of business and, crucially, the scale of guilt to test the performance of the courts. While the study will capture the interest of lawyers to clergymen, or from local historians to sociologists, its primary appeal will be to researchers in the field of Church history. For students and researchers of the seventeenth century, it provides a full account of court operations, measuring the extent of control, challenging orthodoxies about excommunication, penance and juries, contextualising ecclesiastical justice within major societal issues of the times and, ultimately, presents powerful evidence for a ‘church in danger’ by the end of the century.
    URI
    https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/58198
    Keywords
    history;religion;justice;seventeenth century;Early Modern England;church;dioceses;religious courts;religious history;English history;CHURCH COURTS;CONSISTORY COURTS;CANON LAW;EX OFFICIO OATH;PENANCE;EXCOMMUNICATION;JURIES;BASTARDY;ADULTERY;FORNICATION;INCEST;CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE;RECUSANCY;DISSENT;UNIFORMITY;TOLERATION
    DOI
    10.14324/111.9781800083134
    ISBN
    9781800083158, 9781800083141, 9781800083165, 9781800083134
    Publisher
    UCL Press
    Publisher website
    https://www.uclpress.co.uk/
    Publication date and place
    London, 2022
    Classification
    British & Irish history
    History of religion
    Religious life & practice
    Religious institutions & organizations
    Religious & theocratic ideologies
    Legal history
    Pages
    269
    Rights
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
    • Imported or submitted locally

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    License

    • If not noted otherwise all contents are available under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

    Credits

    • logo EU
    • This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 683680, 810640, 871069 and 964352.

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