Paragraph Summaries
- In the 1300s, canon lawyers formed professional groups, with standards of conduct. These groups did not much care to enforce the standards.
- Two explanations. Either there was little misbehavior, OR the methods of enforcement were inefficient.
- The second explanation is likely correct. There was more punishment in the civil court system.
- Many church leaders complained about a lack of discipline.
- The criticism may have convinced canon lawyers to defend themselves and to protect canon lawyers from punishment.
Analysis
This passage is an argument. The author tries to explain why canon lawyer professional associations rarely prosecuted wrongdoing.
The second paragraph presents two theories. The first is that canon lawyers rarely did anything wrong. The second is that the associations’ disciplinary measures rarely caught wrong doing.
The author argues for the second explanation. He has two main reasons.
First, in the third paragraph the author shows that English civil lawyer associations often did prosecute wrongdoing. And many lawyers were members of both the civil and canonical bars, so it’s unlikely that canon lawyers were particularly virtuous.
Second, in the fourth paragraph the author shows that church authorities often criticized the misbehavior of canon lawyers. This is not definitive proof that lawyers misbehaved, but these accusations are highly suggestive of wrongdoing.
The author ends with a tentative conclusion: the criticism may have convinced canon lawyers that they should create professional associations in order to cover up their wrongdoing.
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