CCEd: Glossary

Collation: One form of appointment to an ecclesiastical office, either to a benefice or as a dignitary. This term was applied when the ordinary, usually but not always the diocesan bishop, appointed to a living of which he was the patron or which a lapse had brought within his gift. When a clergyman was appointed to a living by collation, there was no presentation or institution, but collation was followed by induction or installation.
induction: The final stage in the appointment of a clergyman to a benefice, following presentation and institution, or collation. It was at this point that the clergyman took possession of the temporalities of the benefice. After institution the ordinary (usually the bishop) would issue a mandate to the archdeacon or other empowered person to carry out the induction, which involved laying the hands of the clergyman being appointed on the doors of the church and the tolling of a bell. Induction did not normally take place on the same day as institution. In the CCEd, this event is not normally recorded, and will usually only be found in instances where records of institutions are deficient. Where inductions are recorded, the evidence for the event may be derived either from a record of the induction itself or from the issuing of an induction mandate.
Installation: The term describing the event by which a canon or prebendary, or other cathedral dignitary such as an archdeacon, was given possession of his office by being placed in his stall. It was also used of the placing of a diocesan bishop on his throne.
Institution: One form of an appointment to a benefice or dignity. Institution was the act by which a bishop or other ordinary committed a living to the care of a clergyman. It followed after a presentation, the cleric's subscription, and the receipt of letters testimonial, and was followed by induction or installation. It was the only one of these events normally recorded in the episcopal register or act book, and as such can be regarded as furnishing the date from which an appointment commenced.
Nomination: The formal act by which the person holding the right to nominate to a curacy or perpetual curacy did so to request the ordinary (normally the bishop) to grant a licence to the candidate. The nominator might be either a clergyman or a layman. The term also describes the request sent to the bishop for a licence to be issued to an assistant or stipendiary curate to assist a parochial minister in the discharge of his duties, such a request emanating from the incumbent. Towards the end of the period covered by the CCEd the name of such a nominator was increasingly recorded in the licence issued to the curate.
Presentation: The formal act, generally recorded in a presentation deed, by which a patron indicates to the ordinary (normally the bishop) the name of the clergyman whom he wishes to be appointed to a benefice by institution. In certain circumstances, it lies within the power of the ordinary to reject the presentation. Such refusals, however, were uncommon and were liable to be challenged in the civil courts. In cases where the right of presentation was contested, patrons or clergy could enter a caveat, inhibiting the ordinary from instituting anyone to the benefice until the dispute was settled. These caveats are often recorded in registers, but they are not normally extracted for the CCEd.
revocation: The formal act by which an ordinary (normally the bishop) rescinds a licence issued to a curate or schoolmaster.

bishop: The highest order of ministry in the christian church, the English word being derived from an Anglo-Saxon corruption of the latin term episcopus. In the Anglican communion bishops have the right to ordain clergy and hold confirmations. The bishop is also responsible for the ecclesiastical government and leadership of a territorial jurisdiction known as a diocese, although at various points in the period covered by the database there were also ‘suffragan’ bishops assisting the diocesan bishops. The bishop possesses a throne in the cathedral church of his see city, although his relationship with the dean and chapter of the cathedral could often be a tense one (notably when he formally visited his cathedral to examine the conduct of his affairs), and it was the dean who was in charge of the affairs of the cathedral. Bishops lived in episcopal palaces, which in some cases were some considerable distance from the see city, and also spent much of the year in attendance at the House of Lords, of which they were members ex officio. Since the Reformation, the post of bishop in the Church of England has effectively been a crown or prime ministerial appointment, with the dean and chapter meeting formally to elect the candidate proposed by the authorities. The bishop was formally admitted to office through consecration by an archbishop and two other bishops, this act in the view of some perpetuating the apostolic succession through which Christ’s commission to his apostles was transmitted through an unbroken succession to all the clergy.
Dean: The first dignitary of a cathedral, and the head of its corporation, also exercising under the bishop cure of souls over the cathedral body and administering its discipline. The dean was a corporation sole, with the right to receiving an estate or patronage as dean and conveying it to his successors, as well as sharing in the corporate revenues and patronage of the dean and chapter. The powers of the dean vary considerably between cathedrals, in some cases the position being little more than the first among equals in the chapter. The dean did, however, have considerable independence from the bishop. Some collegiate churches which were not cathedrals, such as Westminster Abbey, were also presided over by a dean. The term is also found used in relation to the office of rural dean, which was in some places and at some periods within the compass of the CCEd fallen into disuse. It will also be found being used to describe ‘deans of peculiars’, such as the dean of Battle, Sussex, where the offices reflect the particular jurisdictional status of the incumbent. It was in addition used to describe an office in many Oxford and Cambridge colleges, usually with particular responsibilities for discipline or the chapel.

Bishop: The highest order of ministry in the Christian church, the English word being derived from an Anglo-Saxon corruption of the latin term episcopus. In the Anglican communion bishops have the right to ordain clergy and hold confirmations. The bishop is also responsible for the ecclesiastical government and leadership of a territorial jurisdiction known as a diocese, although at various points in the period covered by the database there were also ‘suffragan’ bishops assisting the diocesan bishops. The bishop possesses a throne in the cathedral church of his see city, although his relationship with the dean and chapter of the cathedral could often be a tense one (notably when he formally visited his cathedral to examine the conduct of his affairs), and it was the dean who was in charge of the affairs of the cathedral. Bishops lived in episcopal palaces, which in some cases were some considerable distance from the see city, and also spent much of the year in attendance at the House of Lords, of which they were members ex officio. Since the Reformation, the post of bishop in the Church of England has effectively been a crown or prime ministerial appointment, with the dean and chapter meeting formally to elect the candidate proposed by the authorities. The bishop was formally admitted to office through consecration by an archbishop and two other bishops, this act in the view of some perpetuating the apostolic succession through which Christ’s commission to his apostles was transmitted through an unbroken succession to all the clergy.
Chancellor: See cathedral chancellor and diocesan chancellor.
Dean: Duplicate entry; map to e108.
Dean: The first dignitary of a cathedral, and the head of its corporation, also exercising under the bishop cure of souls over the cathedral body and administering its discipline. The dean was a corporation sole, with the right to receiving an estate or patronage as dean and conveying it to his successors, as well as sharing in the corporate revenues and patronage of the dean and chapter. The powers of the dean vary considerably between cathedrals, in some cases the position being little more than the first among equals in the chapter. The dean did, however, have considerable independence from the bishop. Some collegiate churches which were not cathedrals, such as Westminster Abbey, were also presided over by a dean. The term is also found used in relation to the office of rural dean, which was in some places and at some periods within the compass of the CCEd fallen into disuse. It will also be found being used to describe ‘deans of peculiars’, such as the dean of Battle, Sussex, where the offices reflect the particular jurisdictional status of the incumbent. It was in addition used to describe an office in many Oxford and Cambridge colleges, usually with particular responsibilities for discipline or the chapel.
Fellowship: The office held by a fellow.
illegible: The term used by Research Assistants, when extracting data, to indicate that an office had been entered but could not be deciphered.
not given: The term used by Research Assistants, when extracting data, to indicate that the clerk had not entered an office.
Perpetual Curate: The title of a clergyman officiating in a parish or district to which he had been nominated by the impropriator and licensed by the bishop and which was not served by a rector or vicar. Perpetual curates did not undergo institution or induction. Unlike rectors and vicars their income did not derive from the possession of tithes. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII lay impropriators as lay rectors were required to nominate persons to serve the cure to the ordinary (usually the bishop). Such appointments became ‘perpetual’ in that the incumbent could only be removed by the revocation of the ordinary’s licence. Before the Pluralities Act of 1838 perpetual curacies were not formally regarded as benefices. In cases where a perpetual curacy received an augmentation from Queen Anne’s Bounty, under 1 Geo. I, stat. 2 c. 10, s. 4 the livings were declared perpetual cures and the incumbents bodies politic. In the earlier part of the period covered by the CCEd the term ‘perpetual curate’ was not employed, such appointments being merely referred to as ‘curates’. However, in the wake of the legislation relating to the Bounty and the increasing prevalence of the appointment of other types of curate, in particular stipendiary curates and assistant curates, the office was increasing described as a perpetual curacy to mark its superior status.
Precentor: The member of the cathedral body responsible for the direction of the choral services, and in the old foundation cathedrals the first dignitary in the cathedral after the dean. In these cathedrals the duties of the office were usually delegated to a deputy, the succentor. In new foundation cathedrals the office is held by a minor canon. At Llandaff and St David’s, the precentor was presbyteral head of the chapter.
Rector: A rector is a clergyman who has the charge or cure of a parish church. During the middle ages some rectories were appropriated to monasteries. In these cases, the place of the rector was supplied by another clergyman who was allowed the ‘small’ tithes of the parish for his maintenance and was called the vicar. After the dissolution of the monasteries many impropriate rectories along with the ‘great’ tithes of the parish became the property of laymen, who were known as ‘lay rectors’.
royal chaplain: A chaplain employed by the crown or a member of the royal family. Chaplains to the monarch were alternatively described as chaplains in ordinary, meaning they served monthly in rotation. For the period 1540–1714, there were also chaplains in extraordinary, who had no regular duties of serving in the chapel royal.
Sacrist, or Sacristan: In the new foundation cathedrals usually a minor canon, often with particular cure of souls within the cathedral precincts. In old foundation cathedrals the post is generally held by a vicar choral.
six preacher: Under the refoundation of Canterbury cathedral in 1541, there were to be six preachers, appointed by the archbishop, with a stipend of £25, who were to provide sermons in the cathedral and an itinerant preaching ministry in the parishes.
Subchantor: See succentor.
subdean: In some cathedrals an officer responsible for assisting the dean with disciplinary matters. In some old foundation cathedrals the position was held by a canon residentiary and is a dignity; elsewhere it was an office held by a canon, or a mere official (as at York), or a post held by an vicar choral or minor canon (in which case the body of vicars or minor canons represented the limit of his jurisdiction).
succentor: The deputy to the precentor in a cathedral, in some cases a dignity (as at York). In most cases, however, the post was held by a vicar choral or minor canon. Sometimes known as the subchantor.
Treasurer: An office found in old foundation cathedrals and collegiate churches, where it was a dignitary with responsibility for overseeing the operation of the sacristan, the bells, and the care of the fabric, fittings, plate, and vestments. After the Reformation the office fell into disuse in some cathedrals, while in the new foundation cathedrals it became effectively the position of bursar, and was held by canons on an annual basis, as such not being recorded in the CCEd.
Vicar: A vicar is a clergyman who has the charge of cure of a parish where the tithes have been appropriated. During the middle ages, when churches were appropriated to monasteries, vicars were employed to perform the duties of the rector and received the ‘vicarial’ or ‘small’ tithes for their maintenance. After the dissolution of the monasteries ‘rectorial’ tithes of impropriate rectories were commonly granted to laymen. As the minister or priest of the parish the vicar enjoys the same spiritual status and a rector and he is appointed to his benefice by the same forms of presentation, institution and induction.
Vicar general: See diocesan chancellor. In the Isle of Man, however, the two offices remain distinct.
warden: The head of an educational or charitable institution, such as colleges at Oxford Univesity (New and Wadham) schools (Winchester), almhouses and hospitals. Occasionally used as an abbreviation for churchwarden.

candidate for ordination: An individual who presented himself to a bishop for ordination. Most proceeded to ordination, but a few were rejected for not fulfilling the criteria laid down in the canons of 1604. These specified that a candidate should be of appropriate age (at least 23 to be a deacon, 24 to be a priest), with an ‘entitlement’ or proof of employment, of satisfactory morals and learning, and be willing to take a number of oaths, including the royal supremacy and canonical obedience. For the period 1540-1660 the most common reasons while a candidate did not proceed to ordination was because of inadequate learning or failure to promise full canonical conformity.
letters dimissory: Granted by a bishop to an individual, born or resident in his diocese, to enable him to be ordained by another bishop. The presumption was that the bishop granting the letter dimissory had already established that the individual was sufficiently qualified to be ordained. Sometimes, however, letters dimissory was also the term used to describe to describe a testimonial issued by the bishop on behalf of a clergyman who was leaving his diocese to seek employment elsewhere.
letters of orders: These were issued to newly-ordained deacons and priests as evidence of their ordination. According to canon 137 of 1604 they were to be exhibited at a bishop’s primary visitation or ‘at the next visitation’ after a clergyman’s institution or licensing. The summary of many are recorded in exhibit books, but a few originals survive, including for the years 1646-60, the time when several bishops ignored the official proscription on episcopal ordination and conducted ordinations clandestinely. On occasion letters of orders were transcribed into an episcopal register, as proof of an individual’s ordination.

lapse: Combine with e482.
option: One form of interruption to the normal arrangements for patronage of a living. After consecrating a new bishop, an archbishop had the right to claim the presentation to any one dignity or benefice among those held by the new bishop (and not necessarily the first that became available). Should the archbishop die before executing an option, the option passed to his executors as personal property.
unknown

BA: Bachelor of Arts. Often written in the sources as 'AB'. {Supply details.}
BD: Bachelor of Divinity. It is often written in the sources as STB, that is 'Sanctae Theologiae Bachelor'.
DD: Doctor of Divinity. The highest of the degrees awarded by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It often appears in the sources as 'STP', that is Sanctae Theologiae Professor. It also sometimes appears as 'Theo. dcr.'
illegible: A term used by Research Assistants, when extracting data, to indicate that there is a phrase which they cannot decipher.
lit.: The common abbreviation for 'literate' or 'literatus'. Its use indicates that a clergyman did not possess a degree, but that he was judged by the bishop to possess sufficient learning to qualify for ordination.
LLD: Also 'legum dcr.'
MA: Master of Arts. Often written in the sources as 'AM'.
SCL: Student in Civil Law.

Archiepiscopal Register: Registers of the archbishops of Canterbury and York containing provincial business, including the election and consecration of bishops and the administration of sees during vacancy, as well as material relating to the two dioceses of Canterbury and York.
Bishops' Transcripts: An annual return at Easter by each parish births, marriages and deaths over the preceding year. The certificate was usually signed by the incumbent or curate, and some use has been made of this source in dioceses (such as Bristol and Worcester for 1540-1660) where other diocesan records list very few curates in post.
Calls: A variant of liber cleri, whereby clergy for some dioceses (Chester, York) are listed not in bound volumes but on individual membranes, sometimes stitched together.
Churchwardens' Presentments: Written answers by churchwardens to enquiries by their ordinary on visitation. Some are notoriously short – ‘omina bene’ (‘all is well’) – while others provide a full answer to each question.
Clergy call book: See liber cleri
Clergy list: See liber cleri
Consignation Book: A phrase used in some dioceses (Bath and Wells, for example), both by contemporaries and subsequently by archivists, to describe an exhibit book.
Dean and Chapter Ledger Book: Duplicate entry
E331: Annual returns to the Office of First Fruits and Tenths in the Exchequer of new incumbents and prebendaries. Such lists survive for all twenty-six dioceses in England and Wales, and for a few peculiars such as the dean and chapter of St Paul’s cathedral.
Exchequer Account of First Fruits: See E331
Induction Book: Records an incumbent’s induction (or taking physical possession of a living) after institution. Used sparingly in CCEd, to fill gaps in lists of institutions.
Induction Mandate: The order from an ordinary, usually a bishop to his archdeacon, to induct a clergyman to a living following his institution or collation there.
Liber Cleri: Liber Cleri or visitation books (sometimes also called call books or lists – there is little evidence of consistency of terminology among either contemporaries or modern scholars) refer to the lists of clergy (incumbents, curates, readers and preachers) and others (schoolmasters, churchwardens, and sometimes surgeons and midwives) drawn up in advance of a visitation by an archdeacon, bishop or archbishop, or their officials. Some appear to have been simply a record of those summoned to appear at the visitation; others were used to record whether or not the clergy attended, displayed their documentation and paid their fees. In smaller, peculiar jurisdictions libri cleri are commonly found in visitation act books. In some dioceses, in some periods, more elaborate versions of liber cleri were compiled, in which the documents exhibited by the clergy were recorded, thus containing details of a clergyman’s ordination, institution, licences and dispensations. These volumes are sometimes called exhibit books (York), consignation books (Bath and Wells, Norwich) or Registers of Orders (Chichester). Please note that within CCEd ‘liber cleri’ is also used in a slightly different sense. When consulting the summary lists of records relating to a person or place, users of the Database will often note the ‘event’ described as ‘Libc’. On consulting the evidence record relating to such an event, users will see it described as a ‘Liber cleri detail record’. In these cases CCEd has adopted the term ‘liber cleri’ and used it generally to describe a type of record. Original evidence records have been collected for CCEd using a menu of screens – ‘Appointment’, ‘Ordination’, ‘Subscription’, ‘Liber cleri’, ‘Dispensation’, ‘Wills’, and ‘Monuments’. CCEd’s ‘Liber cleri’ screen has been used to enter into the Database all lists of clergy compiled on a specific date.
Ordination Register: A volume dedicated to recording the dates and places of ordination services, and the names and qualifications of ordinands. For the period 1540-1660 the information is more commonly entered in the episcopal registers, alongside other diocesan business.
Register of Orders: A phrase used to describe an exhibit book. It is used in the descriptions of the records of the diocese of Chichester at the West Sussex Record Office, but it does not appear to have been a contemporary description.
Visitation act book: Records business generated by the visitation, so may include a liber cleri, the grant of licences (to preachers, teachers and curates) during visitation meetings, and disciplinary cases arising from the churchwardens’ presentments.
Visitation Book: See liber cleri.
Visitation call book: See liber cleri.
Visitation clergy book: See liber cleri.
Visitation Mandates: Orders issued by an ordinary to convene a visitation. In smaller, especially peculiar, jurisdictions, the mandates list the clergymen and parish officers who are to be summoned to attend the visitation.

clerk: Clerk or 'clericus' in Latin was the title given to all clergymen and appears after their name in all official documents. Generally it has been omitted in the entering of records for the CCEd, but it has been included, where used, if the office is not one which could only be held by a clergyman, such as schoolmaster.

cession: One of several ways in which an incumbent’s tenure could be terminated. Although pluralism was commonplace in the Church of England until severely limited by new statute law after the end of the period of the Database, many clergymen were not eligible to hold livings in plurality and certain combinations of offices were forbidden by ecclesiastical law. When a cleric was appointed to a living that could not be held alongside his current position, the latter living was deemed void by cession.
Lapsum Temporis: ‘Lapse of time’ or lapse. When a patron neglected to make a presentation to a benefice within six months of a vacancy occurring, the right of presentation ‘lapsed’ to the bishop. If the bishop neglected to collate within six months, the living lapsed to the archbishop, from whom after another six months it lapsed to the crown. The calculation of the six-month period depended on the circumstances of the vacancy. Where it resulted from an episcopal act, it ran from the point at which the bishop informed the patron. In cases of death in post, resignation, and refusal of a patron’s candidate by the bishop, it was calculated from the vacancy itself.
resignation: One of several ways in which an incumbent's tenure of an ecclesiastical office could be terminated. In a resignation, an incumbent voluntarily surrendered his perferment into the hands from which he had received it. Through 'resignation bonds', the legality of which was the subject of some dispute,{note: reference to Burn some incumbents undertook to resign a living when requested to do so by the patron who had presented them.

Ordinary: The person who exercises ordinary jurisdiction in causes ecclesiastical. Generally, this means the bishop of the diocese, though in a peculiar, that is somewhere exempt from the bishop's jurisdiction, the ordinary was someone else, generally the bishop of another diocese or some other ecclesiastical dignitary, though in a few cases it was a laymen.
Patron: The person(s) possessing the right to make a presentation to a benefice. The patron could be a private individual, a lay corporation (such as the mayor and corporation of a borough), an ecclesiastical corporation (such as a dean and chapter of a cathedral) or a collegiate body (such as an Oxford or Cambridge college or a school such as Eton College). The right of patronage could be held as personal property, or in virtue of the office held by the patron. Under certain circumstances, it might be forfeited for one or more occasions to another individual or body (see lapse, option, sequestration). Patronage might be exercised in trust for patrons who were minors, or who had been declared mentally unfit. In some cases patronage was shared between several patrons, who might appoint jointly to the living, who might each appoint to a portion of a living (see mediety, portion), or who might take it in turn to exercise the patronage.
Curacy: The office held by a curate.
Rectory: The office held by a rector.
Vicarage: The office held by a vicar.
Dignity: A term embracing bishoprics, deaneries, archdeaconries and prebends. Clerical livings inferior to these are generally referred to as benefices.
Dignitary: A cleric holding preferment to which jurisdiction was annexed: thus the cathedral officers (but not, strictly speaking, prebendaries), archdeacons, bishops.
Dean and chapter: The formal title of the governing body of a cathedral, consisting of the dean and a varying number of canons or prebendaries. They had the formal responsibility of electing the diocesan bishop. As a corporate body, the dean and chapter usually possessed considerable patronage which they exercised collectively, often following complex (and frequently amended) rules to determine which member of the body should have first opportunity to select a candidate for the benefice. The members of the chapter might also possess patronage in right of their particular office. The dean and chapter would be entitled to shares of the common fund of the cathedral. They might also exercise peculiar jurisdiction.
Cathedral: The seat of a bishopric, containing the bishop’s cathedra or throne. For 1540-1835 there were twenty-seven cathedrals in England and Wales, including Douglas for the diocese of Sodor and Man, and briefly a twenty-eighth (Westminster cathedral for the diocese of Westminster, (1540-50).
Old foundation cathedrals: Those English and Welsh cathedrals which were ‘secular’ foundations dating from before the Reformation, their chapters not being composed of monks. At the Reformation, they were therefore unaffected by the dissolution of the monasteries, and retained their constitutions. There were nine such cathedrals in England: Chichester, Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield, Lincoln, London, Salisbury, Wells and York. In Wales Bangor, Llandaff, St Asaph, and St David’s were all old foundation.
New foundation cathedrals: Those English and Welsh cathedrals with monastic chapters in the medieval period were in consequence severely affected by the dissolution of the monasteries at the Reformation. King Henry VIII imposed new non-monastic constitutions, thus effectively founding them anew. The cathedrals involved were Canterbury, Carlisle, Durham, Ely, Norwich, Rochester, Winchester and Worcester. In addition, Henry created new bishoprics, and their cathedrals were also numbered among the new foundations: Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Oxford, Peterborough and (while it endured) Westminster.
Peculiar: A unit of ecclesiastical jurisdiction whose ordinary was not the diocesan bishop. Peculiars could be administered by deans, cathedral chapters or individual prebendaries, the crown, laity and even by bishops as non-diocesan jurisdictions. Most peculiars were subject to periodic visitation by the bishop and archbishop.
Donative: A living exempt from the standard ecclesiastical hierarchy of jurisdiction. A church or chapel founded by the monarch or under his licence with the proviso that it should be merely in the gift of the patron, vested in the incumbent solely by the patron's deed of donation, without presentation, institution or induction. In some cases donatives originated when an ecclesiastical body possessing ordinary jurisdiction was dissolved and the living passed to a layman. When a donative was subject to augmentation from Queen Anne's Bounty it became subject to the diocesan's authority.
Vacancy: The vacancy of an ecclesiastical office could be the result of a voluntary resignation, cession under ecclesiastical law, or death in post of the incumbent. In the case of the vacancy of a bishopric ( sede vacante ), the crown assumed its patronage until the vacancy was filled, while other ecclesiastical functions were assumed by the 'guardian of spiritualities', normally the relevant archbishop, but in some cases the dean and chapter, in this case calling on another bishop to perform exclusively episcopal functions.
Bishopric: The office held by a bishop.
Sede vacante: The phrase used to describe the period when a bishopric is vacant.
Chancellor, diocesan: The diocesan chancellor is the chief representative of the bishop in the administration of the diocese. From medieval times the chancellor had come to stand in for the bishop in the conduct of cases in the ecclesiastical courts which fell within the bishop’s jurisdiction. From the passage of the act 37 Henry VIII, c. 17 the office was open to laymen as well as ecclesiastics, but clergymen continued to be appointed to the position. The position was sometimes described as that of the Vicar general, and is generally united with that of Official principal, who acted as the bishop’s representative in causes of a civil or criminal nature.
Ordination: NOTE: already listed under Ordination Type as e221. But we need to define both the event and the DB concept.
Location: Location is a word used in CCEd to include not only 'places' in which clergymen might hold offices, such as parishes, chapelries and schools, but also naval ships, regiments in the army, prebends in cathedrals, and so on. For further details, consult Location structure.
Office: Note for PDs: We need to define the DB concept here.
Clerical status: Note for PDs: We need to define the DB concept here.
Diocese: The territorial unit of administration of a bishop. For administrative convenience the parishes of which it consists are usually grouped into rural deaneries and archdeaconries. In the period covered by the Database, many dioceses had a somewhat illogical appearance to the modern eye, being in some cases split into two halves separated by other jurisdictions, varying greatly in size and in value (in terms of the income of the presiding bishop). Their territorial integrity was also violated by the presence of ‘peculiar’ jurisdictions beyond the control of the diocesan bishop, and in some places forming remote outposts of other dioceses. The start of the period covered by the Database saw extensive changes to the diocesan map of England and Wales; thereafter it remained almost wholly unaltered until following the reports of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners a much more extensive rationalization began in the later 1830s.
Archdeaconry: All the dioceses of England and Wales were subdivided into archdeaconries, a group of parishes under the jurisdiction of an archdeacon, though some dioceses (Oxford for example) contained only a single archdeaconry. Archdeaconry is also used in CCEd as the definition of a grouping of locations to assist with searches. In this context the archdeaconry provides the sub-diocesan jurisdiction within which the location was found, and in almost all cases it is the same as the historic archdeaconry of the same name.
Title: Note for PDs: this means title to a living held by an ordinand.
Visitation: A regular inspection by an ordinary of his jurisdiction to ensure that ecclesiastical law was observed by the clergy, parish officers and people. Most bishops conducted visitations once every three years, although at York they occurred quadrennially, at Norwich septennially. Ordinaries of peculiars visited annually, archdeacons annually or biannually. The visitation consisted of a series of meetings at which the presence or absence of clergy was noted in liber cleri. However, at a bishop’s primary visitation, clergy had produce full documentation of their ordination, institution, licences and dispensations, information which is recorded in exhibit books. A few originals of these documents have survived, endorsed on the back with the dates of visitation on which they were scrutinised.
Metropolitan: The title of a bishop exercising provincial as well as diocesan authority: in the case of England and Wales, the archbishops of Canterbury and York were the only metropolitans.
Private patron: Note for PDs when writing definition: this is a term that occurs in the Rochester commentary, when describing the report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. It thus includes two Database definitions of patron type: lay and clerical.
Prebend: The endowment of land given to a cathedral for the maintenance of a prebendary or canon.
Combination lecture: A rota of local clergy, usually incumbents, took turns or ‘combined’ to preach at a lecture, typically in a market town and weekly, on market day, or once a month.
Churchwarden: The principal parochial officer with responsibility for the finances, fabric and furnishings of the church and the presentment of offenders to higher ecclesiastical authority. Two or more churchwardens held office at any one time and, under canons 89 and 118 of 1604, a pair was elected after Easter each year by the joint consent of the minister and parishioners.
Cathedral office: Note for PDs when writing definition: a phrase that occurs in some of our source descriptions for Rochester and ?elsewhere. I assume that we use it to mean not just dignities, but also other offices within the chapter and other posts like minor canons.
Canonry: The office held by a canon or prebendary of a cathedral or collegiate church.
Deanery: The office held by a dean.
County: The counties used in CCEd are the historical counties of England and Wales, as they existed before the administrative reforms of the twentieth century.
CCE region: CCE region is a term used in the Project to describe a geographical or non-geographical grouping of locations. The main purpose of creating these groupings is to assist with searches that users may wish to conduct.
Exhibit book: See exhibition book.
Ordinand: A candidate applying to be ordained either as deacon or priest.

CCEd

Clergy of the Church of England Database

Reference

Glossary

Appointment Type

Clerical status

Office Type

Ordination Type

Patron Role

Patron Type

Qualification

Source Type

Sub Reason

Title

Vac Reason

Miscellaneous