Historical Clergy database wins top AHRB Funds – University of Reading
25 April 2001A major new technology project in the Department of History will provide an invaluable research tool for all historians investigating the Church, its clergy, its living and patrons for almost 300 years in England and Wales.
The Clergy of the Church of England database has attracted over £500,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Board and will fill a major gap in our knowledge of what was then one of the most important professions. Dr Stephen Taylor from Reading is one of three project directors along with Dr Arthur Burns King's College London and Dr Kenneth Fincham from the University of Kent.
Throughout the period between 1540 and 1835 the Church of England was the single most important employer of educated males in England and Wales, and at times possessed an institutional presence that surpassed that of the state – the parish was the major unit of local government throughout this period. An understanding of the dynamics of the clerical profession is central to the interpretation of the development of society and religion and the history of the professions, to regional studies and to biographical investigation of artistic, scientific, administrative, political and economic activity in England and Wales. At present relevant manuscripts are dispersed in diocesan archives across the country and this has prevented any systematic investigation of the clerical profession.
For further details please contact Sue Rayner or Carol Derham, Tel: 0118 931 8004/5, Fax: 0118 931 8924