<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The early eighteenth-century English ecclesiastical courts are a case study in the secularization of a legal system. As demonstrated elsewhere, the courts were very busy. And yet the theoretical justification for their jurisdiction was very much a matter of debate throughout the period, with divine-right and voluntaristic conceptions vying for precedence. Placed in this context, the King’s Bench decision in Middleton v Crofts (1736) represented an important step in the direction of limiting the reach of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and did so on grounds that undermined divine-right justifications of the ecclesiastical court system as a whole.</p></abstract>

The early eighteenth-century English ecclesiastical courts are a case study in the secularization of a legal system. As demonstrated elsewhere, the courts were very busy. And yet the theoretical justification for their jurisdiction was very much a matter of debate throughout the period, with divine-right and voluntaristic conceptions vying for precedence. Placed in this context, the King’s Bench decision in Middleton v Crofts (1736) represented an important step in the direction of limiting the reach of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and did so on grounds that undermined divine-right justifications of the ecclesiastical court system as a whole.

Secularizing a Religious Legal System: Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in Early Eighteenth Century England

British Journal of American Legal Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The early eighteenth-century English ecclesiastical courts are a case study in the secularization of a legal system. As demonstrated elsewhere, the courts were...

Secularizing a Religious Legal System: Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in Early Eighteenth Century England

Published Online: Jul 19, 2019

Page range: 1 - 36

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjals-2019-0001

Keywords
Secularization, Eighteenth Century, Ecclesiastical Courts, Middleton v Crofts, Canon Law

© 2019 Troy L. Harris, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Secularizing a Religious Legal System: Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in Early Eighteenth Century England

Published Online: Jul 19, 2019

Page range: 1 - 36

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjals-2019-0001

KeywordsSecularization, Eighteenth Century, Ecclesiastical Courts, Middleton v Crofts, Canon Law

© 2019 Troy L. Harris, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Secularization, Eighteenth Century, Ecclesiastical Courts, Middleton v Crofts, Canon Law