Selling the Church
The English Parish in Law, Commerce, and Religion, 1350-1550
Robert C. Palmer
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 10/2003
Pages: 344
Subject: History, Law, Religion
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807861394
DESCRIPTION
Palmer analyzes an extensive set of data drawn from common law records to reveal a vigorous and effective effort by the laity to enforce the new statutes. Motivated by both economic and traditional ideals, the litigants made the commercial activities of leaseholding and buying for resale and profit the exclusive domain of the laity and acquired the power to regulate the clergy. According to Palmer, these parish-level reformations presaged and complemented other initiatives of the crown that have long been considered central to the reign of Henry VIII.