ABSTRACT The Church was a powerful institution in early modern times with courts to enforce its laws on the people at large. Most historians, however, consider its disciplinary machinery to be in decline by the 1690s, while Evan Davies claims there was a new vitality in the enforcement of religious conformity in the Diocese of Worcester after the Restoration. What were the nature and extent of the Church’s controls over society? Charge sheets in surviving consistory court books show the nature of church concerns and how these changed over time, while analyses of numbers summoned, their attendance at court and completion of business reveal the extent of its controls over society. The article traces trajectories over the seventeenth century to bring a broader perspective than Evan Davies to these questions. It sets Worcester within trends in other dioceses to confirm that the Church was a diminishing force in society.

中文翻译：

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十七世纪英国的教会纪律：蓬勃发展还是陷入困境？伍斯特郡体验

摘要 在近代早期，教会是一个强大的机构，设有法院来对广大人民执行其法律。然而，大多数历史学家认为，到 1690 年代，其纪律机制正在衰落，而埃文·戴维斯（Evan Davies）声称，在复辟之后，伍斯特教区在执行宗教一致性方面有了新的活力。教会对社会的控制的性质和范围是什么？现存的长老会法庭书籍中的收费表显示了教会关注的性质以及这些问题是如何随着时间变化的，而对传唤人数、出庭人数和业务完成情况的分析则揭示了其对社会的控制程度。这篇文章追溯了 17 世纪的轨迹，为这些问题带来了比 Evan Davies 更广阔的视角。