Sir Thomas More and holy orders: More's views of the English clergy, both secular and regular
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to present Sir Thomas More's
views on the sacrament of Holy Orders with particular
reference to the English clergy using as evidence More's own
writings and relevant manuscript material as well as various
other contemporary sources.
The discussion of More's activity as ecclesiastical
patron, based on manuscript sources, will illuminate this
previously undocumented aspect of his involvement in clerical
affairs. It will indicate how far his views on the English
clergy are corroborated by those priests he presented to
benefices in addition to providing us with a detailed look at
the problems associated with early 16th Century patronage.
More's activity as a royal councillor, seen through his
own eyes and revealed in his writings and other sources, will
be discussed as it touches on the English spirituality.
Particular attention will be paid to the development of
More's criticisms of the clergy and his emerging
understanding of the sacrament of Orders as it took shape in
his polemical career.
His duties as Lord Chancellor, particularly his campaign
against heretics in England and heretical writings abroad,
will be presented as well as his opposition to secular
statutory reforms of the clerical estate. More's activity as
secular judge of clerical litigants in the courts of Star
Chamber and Chancery will be analysed on the basis of
manuscript evidence of those courts and his own comments
found in his published and private writings.
Finally, More's concluding remarks on both controversial
doctrinal issues and the part played by the English clergy in
the Henrician Reformation (to 1535) will be discussed as it
is found in the works written from the Tower.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
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