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The Reformation Defense of Clerical Marriage in the Reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

John K. Yost
John K. Yost
Affiliation:
Mr. Yost is professor of history in the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Extract

The abolition of monastic vows and mandatory clerical celibacy and the exaltation of marriage and the family were among the most revolutionary changes in religion and ethics produced by the Reformation. Although scholars have given it too little attention, the controversy over the relative merits of marriage and celibacy, and particularly the campaign for clerical marriage, played a major role in the development of the Reformation. The law of celibacy and vows of chastity became principal topics of discussion when the reformers strove to break down the old order of medieval Christianity. The most concrete manifestation of the impact of the controversy over marriage and celibacy lay in the fact that many priests joined the Reformation movement precisely to escape the restrictions imposed upon their domestic life by the old order.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , June 1981 , pp. 152 - 165
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1981

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References

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33. Joye, The defence, sigs. B8r-C2r.

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