ABSTRACT
The first part of this study attempted to come to an understanding of the national context of religious and social change that surrounded baptism and spiritual kinship in the early modern period. The second part sought to examine the local impact of these circumstances, particularly in reference to the pattern of choice of godparents and their contribution toward a changing system of name giving. This final part attempts to return to the wider, national, context through an investigation of the nature and strengths of spiritual relationships in early modern England. This will be undertaken in part from the evidence from biographical works, including letters and diaries, but the principal sources are the extant wills from the three case study parishes, 5969 wills drawn from the records of the courts at York between 1510 and 1671 and, for a longer period, 3885 wills drawn from across the country, particularly from the Archdeaconry of Bedford (1470-1539); from the Book of Orphans in Bristol (1380-1589); for Chesterfield in Derbyshire (1550-99); Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills for Lincolnshire (1640-53) and Essex (1558-1603); the Diocese of Lincolnshire (1500-29); the town of St Albans in Hertfordshire (1470-99); Cranbrook in Kent (1460-1639); Selby in Yorkshire (1630-1709); and for Yorkshire gentry in the period 1640-59.1 This chapter will attempt
to utilize these sources in order to investigate the different roles of co parents, godchildren and godparents, in terms of religious and practical education, adoption, employment and guardianship.
