ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact that fears of alienation of episcopal property had on the rules of clerical marriage and the discourses that surrounded them. First it considers the laws that aimed to limit the personal and familial expenditure of bishops, and their relation to the rules of clerical celibacy. Then it discusses the kinds of resources that were available to bishops in Byzantium and England and their potential for misappropriation. It argues that there were many similarities between English and Byzantine bishops: they had significant control over ecclesiastical property; they were limited by laws against misappropriations on behalf of their families; but they were also ultimately allowed to take care of their legitimate families during their life and after their death. There was also one important difference: in England, sons were singled out for criticism in a way not paralleled in Byzantium, where we find a more extended concept of familial love and networks of influence.
