ABSTRACT
The shared Protestant vision for a more comprehensive reform was not restricted to Gloucester city but extended also to several of the local landlords, who we know exercised a lot of influence in the region. For a variety of reasons many of these members of the gentry adopted the Reformation, which most notably bolstered their desire for expropriated church property. Quickly passing were the days when great rural magnates like the Berkeleys exercised a quasi-autonomous regional authority. Now, unlike their municipal cohorts, their social function was not so much caught up in broad charitable actions but in their role as accomplices in formulating and carrying out government policy, through their judicial, parliamentary or administrative service to the crown. In this way some of the most powerful of their sort used their newfound riches and status to promote reform. At the same time, their public service entailed much risk and sacrifice on their part, greatly circumscribing their own autonomy. Most of Gloucestershire’s leading gentry performed their duties conscientiously, and as with their cohorts within the city, building up their personal fortunes was only one part of a much more complex career.
