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Ecclsiastical Jurisdiction In England, Edwin Maxley

Michigan Law Review

Previous to the invasion of William the Conqueror the ecclesiastical jurisdiction in England was not at all clearly defined. Under the protection, and, as protection implies jurisdiction, under the jurisdiction of the bishops were the following: sacred persons and sacred things. Among the former were included men in orders, monks and nuns; and among the latter: churches and church-yards, books and furniture of churches, sacraments, ecclesiastical and marital rituals. So far as can be found, there were not at that time any separate ecclesiastical courts. The bishops, with the assistance of archdeacons and deans, exercised their ecclesiastical jurisdiction through the …