Description: 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. All disappeared from the church's courts during the mid-nineteenth century, and were taken over by the royal courts. The book traces the steps and reasons - large and small - by which this occurred.
Brief description: Late Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
Review Quotes: "The author and editor have done a masterful job in using such a vast amount of original records in producing a readable and scholarly book..."
Erwin C. Surrency, University of Georgia