9 - Matters of life and death

Summary

Through its liturgy and its clergy the Church of England controlled the major rites of passage: birth, marriage and death. In addition to representing these key stages in the life-cycle of each individual, the ceremonies of baptism, marriage and burial were also important to the broader society. The state insisted that they be recorded in parish registers, and in its search to raise revenue in the 1690s it even taxed them. They were also central to the transmission of property. Participation in the church ceremonies prescribed by the liturgy and in associated secular occasions, such as christening and funeral dinners, served to integrate the community, whose members witnessed the transition of their neighbours through the life-cycle. The use of the liturgical offices was, of course, not voluntary, but they nevertheless played an essential part in popular definitions of the rites of passage. The cleric's role was accepted as indispensable, even in the case of illegal ceremonies such as clandestine marriages. But the clerical role was closely circumscribed, and did not extend beyond liturgical functions.

Churchwardens' presentments at visitations provided the laity with a means of complaining about clerical neglect. Relatively few ministers were presented for their failure to perform baptisms, marriages and funerals or to visit the sick, particularly when compared to the much larger number who were accused of providing inadequate divine service.