The Deprived Married Clergy In Essex, 1553–1561

Abstract

In the five years which elapsed between Mary's accession on 6 July 1553 and her death on 17 November 1558 281 institutions to benefices vacant in Essex are entered in Bonner's Register. Ninety–three of these vacancies, or just under a third, occurred as the result of the deprivation of the late incumbent. A similar disturbance of the personnel of the clergy was taking place all over the country during these years, but the figures quoted for Essex cannot be taken as typical, for Dr. Frere found that the numbers and ratios tended to diminish the greater the distance from London.The general nature of this disturbance, however, the processes connected with it, and the problems arising out of it can best be understood when examined in relation to a particular group of the deprived clergy. As Mr. Baskerville has suggested, “it is only by a thoroughgoing exploration of the ups and downs of the lives of the clergy in an individual diocese that the course of current ecclesiastical movements can be adequately comprehended.”