Church of England's role in national government and town/village life
Preached the government's message
Priests needed a government's licence to preach
Provided guidance for people in times of hardship and uncertainty
Enforced Elizabeth's religious settlements of 1559
Legitimised Elizabeth's rule - encouraged people to remain loyal to their monarch
Parish clergy
Major figure in the village community
Conducted church services including baptisms, weddings and funerals
Offered spiritual and practical advice and guidance to people
Funded by taxes, tithes, or other sources of income
A tithe is a tax worth 10% of people's income or goods produced
Role of Church of England courts
Dealt with marriage, moral offences, slander, wills and inheritance
Church visitations
Inspections of churches and clergy to ensure they obeyed the religious settlement
Took place every 3-4 years
Also involved checking licences of physicians, midwives and surgeons
Role of parish clergy in town life
Parishes contained a wider collection of people including merchants, craftsmen, labourers and vagrants
Wider range of religious beliefs, especially in London
Clergy had a wider range of issues to deal with including poverty, vagrancy and diseases
Parish churches in towns contained a much wider collection of people, including merchants, craftsmen, labourers and vagrants
There was often a wider range of religious beliefs in town parishes, especially in London, which contained mainstream Protestants, Puritans and Catholics
Due to overcrowding, parish clergy in towns had a wider range of issues to deal with than was the case in rural parishes, including poverty, vagrancy and diseases such as smallpox and plague
