Clerical Marriage and the English Reformation: Precedent Policy and Practice

This Study Sets The Debate Over Clerical Marriage Within The Context Of The Key Debates Of The Reformation, Offering Insights Into The Nature Of The Reformers' Attempts To Break With The Catholic Past, And Illustrating The Relationship Between English Polemicists And Their Continental Counterparts. The Debate Was Not Without Practical Consequences, And The Author Sets This Study Of Polemical Arguments Alongside An Analysis Of The Response Of Clergy In Several English Dioceses To The Legalisation Of Clerical Marriage In 1549. Conclusions Are Based Upon The Evidence Of Wills, Visitation Records, And The Proceedings Of The Ecclesiastical Courts.--jacket