WILLIAM LAUD’S REFORM OF ECCLESIASTICAL LAND TENURES: THE TRANSITION FROM LIVES TO YEARS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55877/cc.vol34.762Keywords:
William Laud, church lands, three-lives lease, 21-year leaseAbstract
In the post-Reformation Church of England, bishops, together with the dean and chapter, bore responsibility for both spiritual leadership and the management of ecclesiastical estates. Following the statutes of 1571, it became standard practice to lease church lands either on fixed 21-year terms or, more traditionally, on “three-lives leases”. By the early 17th century, however, rising life expectancy and sustained inflation rendered the latter increasingly impractical and financially disadvantageous to the Church. In response, Archbishop William Laud, with the support of Charles I, sought to standardize leasing practices across English dioceses by enforcing 21-year terms. This policy took little account of local variations and, as a result, provoked disputes over the redistribution of churchwealthandthe reconfigurationof localpower relations. These conflicts deepened clerical – lay tensions and ultimately contributed to the wider institutional fragility that preceded the outbreak of the English Civil War.
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