The Clerical Profession in the Long Eighteenth Century, 1680-1840

by W. M. Jacob

Overview

W. M. Jacob examines the concept of 'profession' during the later Stuart and Georgian period, with special reference to the clergy of the Church of England. He describes their social backgrounds, how they were recruited, selected, and educated, and obtained jobs; how they were paid, and their lifestyles and family life, as well as examining the evidence for what they did as leaders of worship, pastors and teachers, how their parishioners responded to them, and how they were supervised. Jacob concludes that, contrary to popular views, the clerical profession was much better organized, educated, and supervised than the medical and legal professions during this period. During the 'age of reform' from the 1780s to the 1830s, all the professions were criticized: Jacob suggests that the modest regulation and professional training introduced in the other learned professions in the 1830s only slowly brought them to the standard already achieved by the clerical profession.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191526572
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	09/06/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

W. M. Jacob has taught in a number of Church of England theological colleges, and has been a senior administrator in the Church of England. He is currently Archdeacon of Charing Cross in the diocese of London. He has written extensively about religious history in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and has been editor of the journal Theology since 1997.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations viii

1 Introduction 1

Part I

2 Recruitment, Background, and Education of the Clergy 31

3 The Ladder of Advancement 64

4 Pluralism and Non-Residence 95

5 The Incomes of the Clergy 113

6 Life in a Parish 144

Part II

7 Conducting Worship 173

8 Pastoral Care 203

9 Promoting Christian Knowledge 236

Part III

10 Supervision of the Clergy 271

11 Anticlericalism 291

12 Conclusion 304

Bibliography 316

Index 341

Editorial Reviews

"This book is the best introduction to the Church of England as it functioned during the long eighteenth cenutry that we have." —Journal of British Studies

"The research is impressive...This is now the book to go to in order to learn about the eighteenth-century clergy of the Church of England. It is a superior work of scholarship." —Church History

From the Publisher