Test Acts
The Test Acts were a series of
The underlying principle was that only people taking
Although theoretically encompassing all who refuse to comply with Anglicanism in a dragnet approach, in practice the nonconformist Protestants had many defenders in Parliament and were often exempted from some of these laws through the regular passage of
An exception was at Oxbridge, where nonconformists and Catholics could not matriculate (Oxford) or graduate (Cambridge) until 1871.
Similar laws were introduced in Scotland with respect to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and also in Ireland, where the minority Anglican Church of Ireland had penal laws set up in its favour to allow the Anglo-Irish minority to maintain control of land, law and politics as part of the Protestant Ascendancy.
Corporation Act 1661
The
It was not, however, until the reign of
Test Act 1673
Act of Parliament | |
Repealed | 28 July 1863 |
---|---|
Other legislation | |
Amended by |
|
Repealed by | Statute Law Revision Act 1863 |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The Corporation Act 1661 was followed by the Test Act 1673
I, N, do declare that I do believe that there is not any transubstantiation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or in the elements of the
consecrationthereof by any person whatsoever.
The act was passed in the parliamentary session that began on 4 February 1673 (Gregorian calendar). The act is, however, dated 1672 in some accounts due to the Julian calendar then in force in England.[5]
One of the immediate reasons that the "Country Party" (proto-Whigs) in Parliament pushed for this was to break up the
Test Act 1678
Parliament Act 1678 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 30 November 1678 |
Other legislation | |
Amends | Popish Recusants Act 1672 |
Repealed by | Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866 |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
Initially, the Act did not extend to
Scotland
In Scotland, a religious test was imposed immediately after the
Repeals
Test Abolition Act 1867 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 25 July 1867 |
The necessity of receiving the sacrament as a qualification for office was repealed in Ireland in 1780
The 1661, 1672 and 1678 acts were repealed by the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Test Acts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 665–666. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ E. Neville Williams, The Eighteenth-Century Constitution, 1688–1815: Documents and Commentary (Cambridge University Press, 1965), pp. 341–343.
- ^ University of London & History of Parliament Trust
- ^ 'Charles II, 1672: An Act for preventing Dangers which may happen from Popish Recusants.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628–80 (1819), pp. 782–85. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47451. Date accessed: 6 March 2007.
- ^ Plunknett, Theodore, Studies in English Legal History Hambledon Press 1983 p. 323
- ^ 'Charles II, 1678: (Stat. 2.) An Act for the more effectuall preserving the Kings Person and Government by disableing Papists from sitting in either House of Parlyament.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628–80 (1819), pp. 894–96. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47482. Date accessed: 6 March 2007.
- ^ Kenyon, J.P. The Popish Plot 2nd Edition Phoenix Press 2000 pp. 104–5
- ^ Universities (Scotland) Act 1853 16 & 17 Vict. c. 89, ss. 2, 4, 5
- ^ Universities (Scotland) Act 1889, 52 & 53 Vict. c. 55, s. 17.
- ^ 19 & 20 George III c.6 [Ir.]
- ^ Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X., eds. (1967). The Course of Irish History. Cork: Mercier Press. p. 373.
- ^ Norman Gash, Mr Secretary Peel (1961) pp: 460–65; Richard A. Gaunt, "Peel's Other Repeal: The Test and Corporation Acts, 1828," Parliamentary History (2014) 33#1 pp 243–262.
- ^ 30 & 31 Vict. c. 62
Further reading
- Ditchfield, Grayson M. (1974). "The Parliamentary Struggle over the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, 1787–1790". JSTOR 567426.
- Loades, D.M. (2003). Reader's Guide to British History. Vol. 2: M-Z. Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 1262–1263. ISBN 9781579584276.
- Machin, G. I. T. (1979). "Resistance to Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, 1828". S2CID 154680968.
External links
- Committees for the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts: the minutes of two committees for the repeal of the Act. First published by the London Record Society, available as part of British History Online.