Thank you, my comment was intended to apply specifically to the Church of England. Any community that wanted a church was required to set aside farmland whose p

Thank you, my comment was intended to apply specifically to the Church of England. Any community that wanted a church was required to set aside farmland whose produce would be used to fund it, and the people had to donate their labor to work the land. So the English church had a rather unique arrangement where each parish had a source of funds independent of central government or church bureaucracy. That was the attraction of the job for intellectuals. As long as you kept your head down and didn't screw up big time, you were left alone.