Note 322 — Chapter IX · THE DESOLATION OF THE COUNTRY.
Reading edition
Judging by the ordination lists in the London Registers, the proportion of non-beneficed clergy was very large. In the twelve years, from 1362 to 1374, Bishop Sudbury ordained to the priesthood 456 regulars and 809 non-beneficed clergy, against 237 beneficed priests. According to this proportion, the non-beneficed would be six times as numerous as the beneficed.