Occasional Conformity Act 1711
Dates | |
---|---|
Royal assent | 22 December 1711 |
Repealed | 1719 |
The Occasional Conformity Act (
A notable occasional conformist had been the Queen's husband,
Its purpose was to prevent
Hypocrisy became a major topic in English political history in the early 18th century. The Toleration Act 1688 allowed for certain rights, but it left Protestant Nonconformists (such as Congregationalists and Baptists) deprived of important rights, including that of office-holding. Nonconformists who wanted office ostentatiously took the Anglican sacrament once a year in order to avoid the restrictions. High Church Anglicans were outraged and outlawed what they called "occasional conformity" in 1711 with the Occasional Conformity Act.[3] In the political controversies using sermons, speeches, and pamphlet wars, both high churchmen and Nonconformists attacked their opponents as insincere and hypocritical, as well as dangerously zealous, in contrast to their own moderation. This campaign of moderation versus zealotry peaked in 1709 during the impeachment trial of high church preacher Henry Sacheverell. By its very ferocity, the debate may have contributed subsequently to more temperate and less charged political discourse. Occasional conformity was restored by the Whigs when they returned to power in 1719.[4]
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-415-14371-4.
- ^ George Clark, The Later Stuarts 1660–1714 (1956) pp. 224, 232.
- ^ Clyve Jones, "'Too Wild to Succeed': The Occasional Conformity Bills and the Attempts by the House of Lords to Outlaw the Tack in the Reign of Anne". Parliamentary History 30.3 (2011): 414–427.
- ^ Mark Knights, "Occasional conformity and the representation of dissent: hypocrisy, sincerity, moderation and zeal". Parliamentary History 24#1 (2005): 41–57.
Further reading
- Sirota, Brent S. "The Occasional Conformity Controversy, Moderation, and the Anglican Critique of Modernity, 1700–1714". Historical Journal 57.1 (2014): 81–105.