Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book concerns to formulate ideals of Christian behaviour, these texts from the early English Church are much more concerned with the realities of sexual and marital behaviour in communities relatively new to Christianity whose existing customs may differ in focus from a Christian sexual ethic. It extracts represent theological and canon law texts, primarily from the period of Church reform during the eleventh century and afterwards. The book is concerned with asking how these legal and theological texts intersect with actual marital practice.