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Wages Of Sin: The Financial Operations Of A Medieval Church Court, Patti A. Mills

Accounting Historians Notebook

The medieval Church employed law courts to administer the Roman-based canon law. Indeed, in many areas of late medieval Christendom there existed highly developed systems of canon law courts based on the diocese and its divisions. England was no exception. Within the diocese of Canterbury, for example, there were two courts, the Consistory Court, headed by the Commissary-General who exercised diocesan jurisdiction on behalf of the archbishop; and the Court of the Archdeacon, who represented the administrative subdivision below that of the diocese. This study focuses on the Canterbury Consistory and the financial aspects of its operations, particularly as they …