The king wanted to know the exact number of recusants in each diocese.
The third and by far the most significant section contains the actual cases, alphabetically arranged by diocese, heard by the rota.
It includes indices which provide the vernacular names of the dioceses and also the surnames of all the people listed in the volume.
Researchers, therefore, might be interested in the archdeaconry or diocese either as a jurisdictional unit (excluding peculiars) or as a geographical area (including peculiars).
Two of the best articles, for example, demonstrate how crucial the influence of individual bishops could be in shaping the ' tone ' of a diocese.
The study concludes with a survey of the bishop as representative of the ruler within his diocese.
It provides an impressive platform from which further studies of the diocese will inevitably ensue.
They should bookmark the tables of abbreviations, both that for dioceses and that for common words found truncated in the registers.
