The rise and fall of the English ecclesiastical courts, 1500-1860 / R. B. Outhwaite.

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

26462

Law -- Great Britain -- History.

Ecclesiastical courts -- Great Britain -- History.

1. The ecclesiastical courts: structures and procedures

2. The business of the courts, 1500-1640

3. Tithe causes

4. Wills and testamentary causes

5. Defamation suits

6. Marital suits and marriage licenses

7. Office causes

8. The roots of expansion and critical voices

9. Charting decline, 1640-1830

10. Explaining decline

11. The bills of 1733-1734

12. Snips and repairs: small steps to reform, 1753-1813

13. Royal commissions and early fruits, 1815-1832

14. Reform frustrated

15. Reforms thick and fast, 1854-1860.

The first history of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in England that covers the period up to the removal of principal subjects inherited from the Middle Ages. Probate, marriage and divorce, tithes, defamation, and disciplinary prosecutions involving the laity are all covered.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 174-185) and index.

0521869382

9780521869386

xv, 195 p. : ill. ; 23 cm