Church courts, sex, and marriage in England, 1570-1640 / Martin Ingram.
1987
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Author
Title
Church courts, sex, and marriage in England, 1570-1640 / Martin Ingram.
Imprint
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Description
1 online resource (xiii, 412 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
Series
Past and present publications.
Formatted Contents Note
pt. I. The legal and social background
The structure of ecclesiastical justice
Economic and social structures
Religion and the people
Sex and marriage: laws, ideals and popular practice
pt. II. Sex and marriage: the pattern of prosecutions
Matrimonial causes: (i) the breakdown of marriage
Matrimonial causes: (ii) marriage formation
Prenuptial fornication and bridal pregnancy
Incest, adultery and fornication
Aiding and abetting sexual offences
Sexual slander
pt. III. church courts and society: 1the effectiveness of ecclesiastical justice
Church courts and society in 1640: retrospect and prospect.
The structure of ecclesiastical justice
Economic and social structures
Religion and the people
Sex and marriage: laws, ideals and popular practice
pt. II. Sex and marriage: the pattern of prosecutions
Matrimonial causes: (i) the breakdown of marriage
Matrimonial causes: (ii) marriage formation
Prenuptial fornication and bridal pregnancy
Incest, adultery and fornication
Aiding and abetting sexual offences
Sexual slander
pt. III. church courts and society: 1the effectiveness of ecclesiastical justice
Church courts and society in 1640: retrospect and prospect.
Summary
Adultery, fornication, breach of marriage contract, sexual slander - these, along with religious offences of various kinds, were typical of the cases dealt with by the ecclesiastical courts in Elizabethan and early Stuart England. What was it like to live in a society in which personal morality was regulated by law in this fashion? How far-reaching was such surveillance in actual practice? How did ordinary people view the courts - as useful institutions upholding accepted standards, or as an alien system purveying unwanted values? How effective were the church courts in influencing attitudes and behaviour? Previous assessments of ecclesiastical justice, coloured by contemporary puritan and common law criticisms, have mostly been unfavourable. This in-depth, richly documented study of the sex and marriage business dealt with under church law, based on the records of the courts in Wiltshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and West Sussex in the period 1570́ђأ1640, presents a more balanced and more positive view.
Note
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
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WWW
Available in Other Form
Print version:
Linked Resources
Alternate Title
Cambridge Core.
Language
English
ISBN
9780511560590 ebook
9780521232852 (hardback)
9780521386555 (paperback)
9780521232852 (hardback)
9780521386555 (paperback)
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