It does not follow that William de Bolton was an ecclesiastic because he
was called Clericus; that designation being, even in that early time,
often used in a lay sense.
I have just come across an instance of a prior date. In the Liberate
Roll of 26 Henry III. the king directs a payment to be made "to
Isabella, the wife of our beloved clerk, Robert of Canterbury, to
purchase a robe for our use." Even in the reign of Richard I. it may be
doubtful whether the term was not used with both meanings; for in the
charter of Walter Mapes, granting certain lands, among the witnesses are
"Rogero, capellano, Willelmo, capellano, Thoma, _clerico meo_, Waltero,
clerico, Jacobo, clerico, Bricio, fermario meo."
[Symbol: Phi]
[In addition to the information afforded by the preceding
communications "A SUBSCRIBER" will find much curious illustration
of this subject in Beveridge's _Discourses on the Thirty-Nine
Articles_, where he treats of the Thirty-second article "On the
Marriage of Priests."
He must however consult the edition printed at the Oxford
University Press in 1840, which contains for the first time
Beveridge's _Discourses on the last Nine Articles_.]
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