Practice question · Multiple choice
Eleventh-century reformers attacked clerical marriage not merely as a moral failing, but as an institutional threat. What made hereditary succession in the priesthood so dangerous to the medieval church?
Hints
- How did medieval bishops and priests maintain their economic independence?
- What happens to institutional property when an office becomes dynastic?
Show the answer
A. It diverted ecclesiastical estates into family inheritances
Why
Reformers targeted clerical marriage alongside simony because alienating church land to personal heirs eroded the material independence of the clergy. The threat was structural impoverishment rather than sacramental invalidity, which was not tied to marital status.
Practise The Renewal of Christendom, Eleventh to Thirteenth Centuries
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