Bucer's Views on Ecclesiastical Property in the Light of Civil and Canon Law

Abstract

The issue of church property is a crucial one in the history of the sixteenth-century Reformation. In support of his views, Bucer could cite Holy Scripture, Roman Law and the Corpus Iuris Canonici, although Bucer felt that priority could be assigned to those laws that can be inferred from Holy Scripture. This article looks at four themes in the debate on ecclesiastical goods as they concern Martin Bucer: the differing ways in which Protestant estates dealt with the matter; the PR around such actions; resistance to the Emperor; and the issue of ecclesiastical estates ruled by prince-prelates.