Bishops, clerks, and diocesan governance in thirteenth-century England
Subtitle: reward and punishment
By: Michael Burger
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 313
ISBN-13: 9781107022140
Subjects: Church discipline; Church history; Church polity; HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain; Ecclesiastical Benefices; History
Description: "This book investigates how bishops deployed reward and punishment to control their administrative subordinates in thirteenth-century England. Bishops had few effective avenues available to them for disciplining their clerks and rarely pursued them, preferring to secure their service and loyalty through rewards. The chief reward was the benefice, often granted for life. Episcopal administrators' security of tenure in these benefices, however, made them free agents, allowing them to transfer from diocese to diocese or even leave administration altogether; they did not constitute a standing episcopal civil service. This tenuous bureaucratic relationship made the personal relationship between bishop and clerk more important. Ultimately, many bishops communicated in terms of friendship with their administrators, who responded with expressions of devotion. Michael Burger's study brings together ecclesiastical, social, legal and cultural history, producing the first synoptic study of thirteenth-century English diocesan administration in decades. His research provides an ecclesiastical counterpoint to numerous studies of bastard feudalism in secular contexts"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Part I. The Problem: 1. Introduction; 2. Dangers of service; Part II. Rewards and Punishments: 3. Benefice for service and for benefit; 4. Security of tenure in benefices; 5. Pensions; 6. Other rewards; 7. Punishment; Part III. Consequences: 8. Patronage hunger; 9. Continuity and discontinuity in administration; 10. Affection and devotion; 11. Conclusions: culture and context.