Chapter 1 Better to Marry Than to Burn? Attitudes to Clerical among the Elizabethan

‘Wedlocke is honorable amonge all persons, exceptinge none, neyther Prieste, Monke, nor Fryere’ declared Thomas Becon in his Boke of Matrimony.1 Al- though such a confident assertion would appear to have left little room for any misgivings, the validity of clerical marriage was not so easily resolved. Becon repudiated the superiority of a life of virginity and condemned the hypocrisy of those who did not equate a life of celibacy with one of chastity. Not all, how- ever, were convinced that clerical marriage was actually desirable rather than a necessary evil. While evangelical writers and the godly elite continued to en- gage in theological debate, it is by no means clear to what extent the clergy as a whole agonized over these issues before making their personal decisions. Were those who were quick to marry advocates of or simply eager to abandon a life of celibacy? Were ministers who chose to remain unmarried conservative in religion, clinging to established practice, or cautious after the upheavals of the preceding years? It is rarely possible to determine the rela- tive importance of these influences on the individual cleric, but an appraisal of the evolving theoretical debate, alongside more pragmatic concerns, can be attempted. This chapter examines these competing dynamic forces and, in doing so, engages with current historical debate touching the influence of con- fessional identity and the prevalence of clerical . Such themes are best examined against an appreciation of the extent of clerical marriage and the rate at which ministers availed themselves of the opportunity to marry, which is where we must begin.

1 The Extent of Clerical Marriage

From the number of deprivations which occurred during the reign of Mary, attempts have been made to establish the extent to which the clergy embraced marriage during its first, short-lived period of legality. The overall proportion of married clergy under Edward vi has not been established with any degree of

1 Thomas Becon, ‘The Boke of Matrimony’, The Worckes of Thomas Becon (London, 1564), stc 913:01, f. 602r.

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24 Chapter 1 accuracy although it is evident that there was considerable regional variation. In conservative areas, there seems to have been little enthusiasm for marriage as only 10 per cent of the clergy in the diocese of York, and fewer than 5 per cent in Lancashire, were subsequently deprived for marriage. In areas more forward in religion, the percentages are much higher, around 30 per cent in London and 25 per cent in Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. Given the short period of time available for these clergymen to acknowledge the legal position, weigh their options, find a suitable spouse and marry, it seems that here the opportu- nity to marry had been remarkably well-received.2 There have been fewer attempts to ascertain how many or what propor- tion of clergy married during the reign of Elizabeth. Parker’s diocesan returns, made at the beginning of the reign, offer a useful starting point, although as the areas of study do not correspond with those examined for the Edward- ian period, a direct comparison is not possible. A general overview of the re- turns (Table 1) reveals considerable regional variation with a higher proportion of married clergy to be found in dioceses where Protestantism had gained a firmer footing. In these areas, many clergy had indeed made a ‘confident deci- sion’ to marry from the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign.3 The work of C.W. Foster permits a more detailed examination of developments within the diocese of Lincoln and has the advantage of pinpointing the number of married clergy at two separate dates. From a low starting point in 1560, when only 18 per cent were married, the Lincoln clergy responded with enthusiasm, and by 1576, 64 per cent had taken a wife.4 This is a higher proportion than in conservative Cheshire where, by 1578, only half the county’s incumbents had married.5 Regional variation across the diocese of Lincoln (Table 2) highlights the danger of assuming uniformity across large geographical areas. In 1560, only 7 per cent of the clergy in the archdeaconry of Leicester were married, and it

2 E.J. Carlson, Marriage and the (Oxford, 1994), p. 53; P. Marshall, The Catholic Priesthood and the English Reformation (Oxford, 1994), p. 166; G. Baskerville, ‘Married Clergy and Pensioned Religious in Norwich Diocese, 1555’, English Historical Review, 48 (1933), pp. 45–6; H.E.P. Grieve, ‘The Deprived Married Clergy in Essex, 1553–1561’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 22 (1940), p. 145; R.M. Spielmann, ‘The Beginnings of Clerical Mar- riage in the English Reformation: The Reigns of Edward and Mary’, Anglican and Episcopal History, 56 (1987), p. 259. 3 H.L. Parish, Clerical Marriage and the English Reformation: Precedent, Policy and Practice (­Aldershot, 2000), pp. 233–4. 4 C.W. Foster, ‘The State of the Church in the Reigns of Elizabeth and James i as illustrated by Documents relating to the Diocese of Lincoln’, Lincoln Record Society, 23 (1926), p. 455. See also Fig. 6, Age Profile of Married and Unmarried Clergy in the Diocese of Lincoln in 1576. 5 P.J. Cox, ‘Reformation Responses in Tudor Cheshire c. 1500–1577’ (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Warwick, 2013), p. 377.