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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture It's only a guess - and I hope one of the canon lawyers will step in here - but could it be to do with incompatibility of sacraments? I believe that if you were in major orders you could not marry and if you were married you could not proceed to major orders. There were 'married clerks' who never proceeded to major orders. Was acolyte the last point at which you could marry or was it the point of no return - in which case you needed a permanent record? Rosemary Hayes ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Briggs" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, November 04, 2011 12:33 PM Subject: Re: [M-R] Minor orders > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > On 04/11/2011 09:49, Rosemary Hayes wrote: >> >> Certainly, my own work with episcopal registers has revealed very little >> below the level of acolyte but then I have NEVER come across the record >> of a confirmation. Perhaps both confirmation and the orders below >> acolyte were conferred ad hoc as the bishop (or his suffragan - and most >> had them in the fifteenth century) moved around the diocese. > > Perhaps we are looking at this the wrong way round. Perhaps we should ask > why ordinations of acolytes *were* recorded. Is it "just" because it was > the most senior of the minor orders? If so, what makes this special? Was > this the sort of logic which led to subdeacon becoming a major order? > Would the same have eventually happened to acolyte? > > John Briggs > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html