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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Acolytes could be married - it was just the most senior of the Minor Orders. (But that had previously been the situation with Subdeacons.) That doesn't explain why the ordination would need to be recorded - but neither does anything else that I can think of. John Briggs On 04/11/2011 15:02, Rosemary Hayes wrote: > > 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? > > From: "John Briggs" >> >> 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? >> 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. ********************************************************************** 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