What Role Did The Catholic Church Play In Regency Society

Some people just will not take no for an answer. That is how the Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, began. In the early 1500s, King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife (Anglican Church). The Catholic Church would not allow him to annul his marriage, so King Henry VIII created his own church. It sounds wild, but it became the official Church of England. It was also the most popular, or practiced, religion in author Jane Austen’s time (Ray 240). Jane Austen was a Regency era author who used many clergymen as main characters in her romance novels. She wrote them as good, bad, and in the case of Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice, humorous. As gentlemen, clergymen were prominent members of society. They, through the Anglican church, had many roles in Regency society. In addition to its spiritual and physical nourishment of christians, the Anglican Church also played a major role in social class systems of Regency England society. The most important role of the Anglican church in Regency society was to spiritually and sometimes physically nourish the christians, though not all clergymen in Austen’s novels properly shepherded their flock.

They, like sisters, had no way to generate their own income (Ray 189). Even though they were not supposed to work, gentlemen needed a way to maintain their lifestyle. In finding a job, they had to find a way to earn money without losing their status (Grace, "Gentlemen"). The church was a socially acceptable way for them to earn enough to support their lifestyle. Since one could hire a curate to do all the day-to-day duties, it allowed gentlemen to focus on social activities and do no physical labor, which was ideal. The church was more a social or career move than an actual “calling” (Ray, 244). This is especially evident in some of Austen’s characters whose first interest was obviously not the