A Royal Peculiar (or Royal Peculier) is a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than under a bishop. The concept dates from Anglo-Saxon times, when a church could ally itself with the monarch and therefore not be subject to the bishop of the area. Later it reflected the relationship between the Norman and Plantagenet kings and the English church. Unlike many of the ecclesiastical foundations of the medieval period the royal peculiars were not abolished in the English Reformation effected under the Tudors.
Read more about Royal Peculiar: Royal Peculiars of The Present Day, Non-royal Peculiars, Former Royal Peculiars
Famous quotes containing the words royal and/or peculiar:
“What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 11:7-9.
Jesus speaking about John the Baptist.
“It was his peculiar doctrine that a man has a perfect right to interfere by force with the slaveholder, in order to rescue the slave. I agree with him.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)