ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



of order held the first place in episcopal inquiries, by 1576 much more 

 attention was paid to the personnel of the clergy. 



Difficult as it is to trace the early history of the various incumbents, 

 the official figures make it clear that the standard of learning was not high. 

 In 1576 but nine of the twenty-nine beneficed clergy in the deanery of 

 Braughing were graduates ; of the rest three knew no Latin, while eleven 

 had but a slight or middling knowledge of the language. Still more serious 

 was the fact that eighteen had only a middling or slight knowledge of 

 theology.*^ In the archdeaconry of St. Albans in 1583 the proportion of 

 graduates to non-graduates was five to twelve, twelve of the whole twenty- 

 three being learned in the Latin tongue.^" A return made somewhat later 

 for the archdeaconry of Huntingdon shows that thirty of the seventy-seven 

 incumbents in this part of the country were graduates, but gives no particulars 

 of their learning." Such figures were ample justification of the Puritan 

 outcry, and the authorities were bound to seek a remedy. 



For one part of the diocese of London very full particulars of the 

 remedial measures have been preserved, and it is evident that the action 

 taken in the archdeaconry of St. Albans must have been common to the rest 

 of the diocese, though of course no such inference is possible in the case of 

 those parishes within the diocese of Lincoln. A visitation was held at 

 Barnet in April 1582, and an order was made ' that every minister of this 

 Jurisdiction being no preacher or mr. of Artes shall monethly geve under his 

 owne hand an exposition of one Chapter of St. Pawle to the Romans begenninge 

 at the first Chapter and so goeinge forwarde monethly, unto the next preacher 

 adioyneningc unto him of this Jurisdiction, and so to be delivered quarterly 

 unto the Judge ... to that end that it may appeare how they have profyted 

 in their studyes.'*^ The order seems to have been repeated in 1583, but 

 does not appear to have been very effisctual, for in April 1585 the bishop 

 required the archdeacon to send him ' a list of all such as shall be notoriously 

 negligent or wilfully disobedient ' thereto. °' 



In July 1586 the bishop went on visitation through the archdeaconry 

 of St. Albans and deanery of Braughing, and some sort of examination of the 

 clergy was made.'* In Braughing, though the majority were preachers, 

 eight were ordered to appear for further examination before ' Mr. Sterne, 

 Mr. Bishop, Mr. Bland ' and another at Bishop's Stortford on 6 and 

 7 September following.'* For the archdeaconry of St. Albans that place was 

 the centre, and the examination was fixed for 4 October. In August the arch- 

 deacon received the necessary instructions from Doctors' Commons together 

 with the list of ' the inferior sort of Ministers not being allowed Preachers, 

 and under the degree of Master of Arts ' who were required to attend. 

 The archdeacon was to sit in person on the first day with. Roger Williams, 



8' Lambeth MS. xii, no. I . 



'" Rec. of the Old Archd. of St. Albans, 3 5-7. Two of those with no degrees are said to be ' of Oxford ' 

 and four ' of Cambridge.' 



'1 Lambeth MS. xii, no. 2. A bill introduced into Parliament in 1588 provided that no preacher be 

 admitted to a benefice with cure of souls unless he be a B.D. or a M.A. of five years' standing ; that none be 

 admitted to a parsonage with cure of souls of the value oi £zo-£'iO unless an M.A. or preacher 'allowed 

 before,' and that none be admitted to a cure of the value of over 20 marks unless a B.A. or licensed preacher 

 (Morrice MS. [Dr. Williams's Lib.], B, fol. 197). 



93 Rec. of the Old Archd. of St. Albans, 21,38. "3 jbid. 45. 



8* Visit. 1586 (Lond. Epis. Reg.). »» Ibid. 



