Late Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

'The virtue of the work under review is its comprehensive nature. It is a general history, summarizing the available evidence from all sources and offering critical commentary on previous historical work. It reads well, is full of valuable information, and will be an essential work of reference to any historian whose work touches on the ecclesiastical courts.' Law and History Review

• Abbreviations; Table of parliamentary statutes; 1. The ecclesiastical courts: structures and procedures; 2. The business of the courts, 1500–1640; 3. Tithe causes; 4. Wills and testamentary causes; 5. Defamation; 6. Matrimonial litigation and marriage licenses; 7. Office causes; 8. The roots of expansion and critical voices; 9. Charting decline, 1640–1830; 10. Explaining decline; 11. The Bills of 1733–1734; 12. Snips and repairs: small steps to reform, 1753–1813; 13. Royal commissions and early fruits, 1815–1832; 14. Reform frustrated; 15. Reforms thick and fast, 1854–1860.

Late Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

'The virtue of the work under review is its comprehensive nature. It is a general history, summarizing the available evidence from all sources and offering critical commentary on previous historical work. It reads well, is full of valuable information, and will be an essential work of reference to any historian whose work touches on the ecclesiastical courts.' Law and History Review

• Abbreviations; Table of parliamentary statutes; 1. The ecclesiastical courts: structures and procedures; 2. The business of the courts, 1500–1640; 3. Tithe causes; 4. Wills and testamentary causes; 5. Defamation; 6. Matrimonial litigation and marriage licenses; 7. Office causes; 8. The roots of expansion and critical voices; 9. Charting decline, 1640–1830; 10. Explaining decline; 11. The Bills of 1733–1734; 12. Snips and repairs: small steps to reform, 1753–1813; 13. Royal commissions and early fruits, 1815–1832; 14. Reform frustrated; 15. Reforms thick and fast, 1854–1860.

Late Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

'The virtue of the work under review is its comprehensive nature. It is a general history, summarizing the available evidence from all sources and offering critical commentary on previous historical work. It reads well, is full of valuable information, and will be an essential work of reference to any historian whose work touches on the ecclesiastical courts.' Law and History Review

• Abbreviations; Table of parliamentary statutes; 1. The ecclesiastical courts: structures and procedures; 2. The business of the courts, 1500–1640; 3. Tithe causes; 4. Wills and testamentary causes; 5. Defamation; 6. Matrimonial litigation and marriage licenses; 7. Office causes; 8. The roots of expansion and critical voices; 9. Charting decline, 1640–1830; 10. Explaining decline; 11. The Bills of 1733–1734; 12. Snips and repairs: small steps to reform, 1753–1813; 13. Royal commissions and early fruits, 1815–1832; 14. Reform frustrated; 15. Reforms thick and fast, 1854–1860.