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Test Acts 1673 & 1678
The Test Acts were a series of penal laws originating in Restoration England, passed by the Parliament of England, that served as a religious test for public office in England and Wales, which imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformist Protestants. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in the established Church of England were eligible for public employment, and the severe penalties pronounced against recusants, whether Catholic or nonconformist, were affirmations of this principle.
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 Acts of Indemnity: in particular, the Indemnity Act 1727 relieved nonconformists from the requirements in the Test Act 1673 and the Corporation Act 1661 that public office holders must have taken the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in an Anglican church.
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.
The Naturalisation and Restoration of Blood Act 1609 (7 Jas. 1. c. 2) provided that all such as were naturalised or restored in blood should receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper (repealed by Naturalization Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 14)) but this did not affect most people born in England.
It was not, however, until the reign of Charles II that actually receiving communion in the Church of England was made a precondition for holding public office. The earliest imposition of this test was by the Corporation Act 1661 (13 Cha. 2 St. 2. c. 1) requiring that, besides taking the Oath of Supremacy, all members of corporations (i.e. municipal authorities) were, within one year after election, to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England. This was targeted at Presbyterians and other non-conformists following the English Civil War and Restoration, though also affected Roman Catholics.
The Corporation Act 1661 (13 Cha. 2 St. 2. c. 1) was followed by the Test Act 1673 (25 Cha. 2. c. 2) (the long title of which is "An act for preventing dangers which may happen from popish recusants"). This act enforced upon all persons filling any office, civil, military or religious, the obligation of taking the oaths of supremacy and allegiance and subscribing to a declaration against transubstantiation and also of receiving the sacrament within three months after admittance to office. The oath for the Test Act 1673 was:
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 bread and wine, at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever.
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Test Acts 1673 & 1678 AI simulator
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Test Acts 1673 & 1678
The Test Acts were a series of penal laws originating in Restoration England, passed by the Parliament of England, that served as a religious test for public office in England and Wales, which imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformist Protestants. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in the established Church of England were eligible for public employment, and the severe penalties pronounced against recusants, whether Catholic or nonconformist, were affirmations of this principle.
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 Acts of Indemnity: in particular, the Indemnity Act 1727 relieved nonconformists from the requirements in the Test Act 1673 and the Corporation Act 1661 that public office holders must have taken the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in an Anglican church.
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.
The Naturalisation and Restoration of Blood Act 1609 (7 Jas. 1. c. 2) provided that all such as were naturalised or restored in blood should receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper (repealed by Naturalization Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 14)) but this did not affect most people born in England.
It was not, however, until the reign of Charles II that actually receiving communion in the Church of England was made a precondition for holding public office. The earliest imposition of this test was by the Corporation Act 1661 (13 Cha. 2 St. 2. c. 1) requiring that, besides taking the Oath of Supremacy, all members of corporations (i.e. municipal authorities) were, within one year after election, to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England. This was targeted at Presbyterians and other non-conformists following the English Civil War and Restoration, though also affected Roman Catholics.
The Corporation Act 1661 (13 Cha. 2 St. 2. c. 1) was followed by the Test Act 1673 (25 Cha. 2. c. 2) (the long title of which is "An act for preventing dangers which may happen from popish recusants"). This act enforced upon all persons filling any office, civil, military or religious, the obligation of taking the oaths of supremacy and allegiance and subscribing to a declaration against transubstantiation and also of receiving the sacrament within three months after admittance to office. The oath for the Test Act 1673 was:
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 bread and wine, at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever.