The compulsory celibacy of the *clergy was abolished in Protestant England in 1549. However, the Church of Rome had been trying for several centuries to impose it and was close to success when England defaulted. A *decretal issued by Pope Siricius in 386 confirmed earlier attempts to ensure all senior clergy should be celibate. The celibacy of monks in their monasteries was broadly adhered to in the early years, between the 7c and 9c; again during the reform years after 1000 the rule applied. The Lateran Council of 1139 declared all clerical marriages both unlawful and invalid. [< Lat. caelibatus = unmarried, a bachelor]
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.