Title:
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Custom and conflict : disputes over tithe in the Diocese of Canterbury, 1501-1600.
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This thesis seeks to explore custom and conflict in Kentish society through a study
of tithe litigation in the diocese of Canterbury. It is based on an examination of
ecclesiastical court material. The approach differs from most previous studies of
tithe litigation in the emphasis on the practice of tithe payment as opposed to its
statutory, legal or administrative aspects. An understanding of the everyday
operation of tithe payment and tithing methods is regarded as an essential precursor
to analysing trends in litigation. The transmission and negotiation of customary
practice within local communities is examined in the second chapter. Chapter three
focuses on conflict over tithe, particularly as evinced in verbal and physical
confrontations between tithe collectors and tithe payers. These were confrontations
which often revealed themselves in ritual and symbolic form. This chapter also
considers the resistance evident in the tithe collection process. A statistical analysis
of tithe litigation in the diocese for the period 1501-1600 is undertaken in chapter
four. This examination draws particular attention to the prevalence of dispute
throughout the period and to a geographical concentration of parishes experiencing
a high number of disputes within certain areas of the diocese. Chapter five seeks to
examine the local dynamics of dispute through case studies of four different
parishes. These studies reveal the complexity of tithe payment and the way in which
conflict over tithe very often informed interpersonal relationships in other spheres,
notably in relation to religious practice and belief and in convictions about
reciprocal behaviour
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