Clergy and Criminal Violence in Later Medieval England and Wales - with Professor Peter D Clarke

Clergy formed a distinct and privileged group in later medieval society with respect to violent crime. Church law was intended to protect them from it, induce them to avoid it, and exempt them from secular justice following it. But in practice, were the clergy so separate from the violent culture around them and different from the laymen who dominated it? In this episode, Access and Digital Engagement Archivist Laura Yeoman talks with Professor Peter D Clarke of the University of Southampton about his new book on clergy and criminal violence, including some of the records from the Borthwick Institute which helped his research.