Clergy Act 1640

Last updated

Clergy Act 1640
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of England (1603-1649).svg
Parliament of England
Long title An Act for disabling all persons in Holy Orders to exercise any temporal jurisdiction or authority.
Citation 16 Cha. 1. c. 27
Territorial extent  Kingdom of England
Dates
Royal assent 14 February 1642
Commencement 15 February 1642
Repealed30 July 1661
Other legislation
Repealed by Clergy Act 1661
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Clergy Act 1640, also known as the Bishops Exclusion Act, or the Clerical Disabilities Act, was an Act of Parliament, effective 13 February 1642 that prevented men in holy orders from exercising any temporal jurisdiction or authority.

Contents

Prior to the Act, bishops of the Church of England sat in the House of Lords, where they comprised 22 out of a total membership of 60–70 peers. This allowed them to block legislation proposed by the Commons, which was increasingly dominated by Puritans.

"Puritan" was a term for anyone who wanted to reform, or 'purify', the Church of England, and contained many different sects, including Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. Despite differences in doctrine, they opposed bishops, on both religious and political grounds.

Support was limited even among moderates like Viscount Falkland, who wrote; "Those that hated the bishops, hated them more than the Devil; they who loved them, did not love them so well as their dinner." [1]

In 1649, the House of Lords was abolished by the Protectorate; it was restored in 1660, but bishops were not readmitted until the Clergy Act 1661.

Background

Archbishop Laud, whose reforms led to increasing opposition to the role of bishops William Laud.jpg
Archbishop Laud, whose reforms led to increasing opposition to the role of bishops

In 1642, the vast majority of Englishmen were 'Royalist', in the sense of a shared belief that a 'well-ordered' monarchy was divinely mandated. They disagreed on what 'well-ordered' meant, and who held ultimate authority in clerical affairs. Royalists generally supported a Church of England governed by bishops, appointed by, and answerable to, the king; Parliamentarians, many of whom were Puritans, believed he was answerable to the leaders or Elders of the church, appointed by their congregations. [2]

"Puritan" was a term for anyone who wanted to reform, or 'purify', the Church of England, and contained many different sects. Presbyterians were the most prominent in Parliament, and included leaders like John Pym and John Hampden, but there were many others, such as Congregationalists. Close links between religion and politics added further complexity; one reason for opposition to bishops was their presence in the House of Lords, where they often blocked Parliamentary legislation. [3]

Passage of the Act

In 1629, Charles I dissolved Parliament, initiating the period known as Personal Rule. His use of arbitrary taxes, such as Ship money, was resented, not just because of the way they were levied, but how they were spent. Reforms to the Church of England under Archbishop Laud were viewed as covertly favouring Roman Catholic doctrines, and opposed by many of its clergy. In 1984, historian Patrick Collinson, described Laud as "the greatest calamity ever visited upon the English Church". [4]

Attempts to impose similar reforms on the Church of Scotland, or kirk, led to the 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars. Charles refused to call Parliament, crippling his army due to lack of funds; defeat resulted in a Covenanter government, which expelled bishops from the kirk. Shortly after the Long Parliament assembled in November 1640, it was presented with the Root and Branch petition; signed by 15,000 Londoners, this demanded the removal of bishops from the Church of England, evidence of popular opposition to Episcopacy. [5]

At this stage, the petition was not adopted by the Commons, although Laud was impeached, and held in the Tower of London. In the first few months of 1641, the Commons passed a series of constitutional measures; the Triennial Acts, abolition of the Star Chamber, and an end to levying taxes without Parliament's consent. Once again, the bishops ensured all three were rejected by the Lords. [6]

The Commons responded in June with the Bishops Exclusion Bill, removing them from the Lords, which was rejected once again. The outbreak of the Irish Rebellion in October 1641 raised the political temperature; during December, there were widespread riots in Westminster, led by the London apprentices, which resulted in a number of deaths. Suggestions that Pym and other Parliamentary leaders helped to organize these riots have not been proved, but one result was to prevent bishops attending the Lords. [7]

On 30 December, John Williams, Archbishop of York, signed a complaint along with eleven other bishops, disputing the legality of any laws passed by the Lords during their exclusion. This was viewed by the Commons as inviting Charles to dissolve Parliament, and all twelve were arrested on charges of treason. [8] When Charles left London in January, he was accompanied by many Royalist MPs and members of the Lords. This gave his opponents majorities in both houses, and the bill became law in February 1642. [1]

Effect of Act

The Act prevented those in holy orders from exercising any temporal jurisdiction or authority after the 5 February 1641 O.S.; this extended to taking a seat in Parliament or the Privy Council. Any acts carried out with such authority after that date by a member of the clergy were to be considered void. [9]

In 1649, the House of Lords was abolished by the Protectorate, then restored when Charles II returned in 1660; bishops were not readmitted until the 1661 Clergy Act. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Civil War</span> Series of wars in England, 1642–1651

The English Civil War was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the struggle consisted of the First English Civil War and the Second English Civil War. The Anglo-Scottish War of 1650 to 1652 is sometimes referred to as the Third English Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Parliament</span> English Parliament from 1640 to 1660

The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In September 1640, King Charles I issued writs summoning a parliament to convene on 3 November 1640. He intended it to pass financial bills, a step made necessary by the costs of the Bishops' Wars against Scotland. The Long Parliament received its name from the fact that, by Act of Parliament, it stipulated it could be dissolved only with agreement of the members; and those members did not agree to its dissolution until 16 March 1660, after the English Civil War and near the close of the Interregnum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roundhead</span> Parliament supporter in the English Civil War

Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who claimed rule by absolute monarchy and the principle of the divine right of kings. The goal of the Roundheads was to give to Parliament the supreme control over executive administration of the country/kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pym</span> 17th-century English statesman and opponent of Charles I

John Pym was a politician and administrator from London, who played a major role in establishing what would become the modern English Parliamentary system. One of the Five Members whose attempted arrest in January 1642 was a major step in sparking the First English Civil War, his use of procedure to out manoeuvre opponents was unusual for the period. Though this meant he was respected by contemporaries rather than admired, in 1895 historian Goldwin Smith described him as "the greatest member of Parliament that ever lived".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles</span> English statesman (1598–1680)

Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, was an English statesman, best remembered as one of the Five Members whose attempted arrest by Charles I in January 1642 sparked the First English Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hampden</span> English politician and military officer (1595–1643)

John Hampden was an English politician from Oxfordshire, who was killed fighting for Parliament in the First English Civil War. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, he was one of the Five Members whom Charles I of England tried to arrest in January 1642, a significant step in the outbreak of fighting in August. All five are commemorated at the State Opening of Parliament each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Waller</span> English soldier and politician (d. 1668)

Sir William Waller JP was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War. Elected MP for Andover to the Long Parliament in 1640, Waller relinquished his military positions under the Self-denying Ordinance in 1645. Although deeply religious and a devout Puritan, he belonged to the moderate Presbyterian faction, who opposed the involvement of the New Model Army in politics post 1646. As a result, he was one of the Eleven Members excluded by the army in July 1647, then again by Pride's Purge in December 1648 for refusing to support the Trial of Charles I, and his subsequent execution in January 1649.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wars of the Three Kingdoms</span> British civil wars, 1639–1653

The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, sometimes known as the British Civil Wars, were a series of intertwined conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 Bishops' Wars, the First and Second English Civil Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the Anglo-Scottish War of 1650–1652. They resulted in victory for the Parliamentarian army, the execution of Charles I, the abolition of monarchy, and founding of the Commonwealth of England, later The Protectorate, a unitary state which controlled the British Isles until the Stuart Restoration in 1660.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First English Civil War</span> Part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1642–1646)

The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point between 1639 and 1653, while around 4% of the total population died from war-related causes. These figures illustrate the widespread impact of the conflict on society, and the bitterness it engendered as a result.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Rous</span> 17th-century English politician

Francis Rous, also spelled Rouse, was an English politician and Puritan religious author, who was Provost of Eton from 1644 to 1659, and briefly Speaker of the House of Commons in 1653.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke</span> English politician, military officer and peer

Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke was an English politician, military officer and peer. A leading opponent of Charles I of England, when the First English Civil War began in August 1642, he was appointed as the commander of Parliamentarian forces in Staffordshire and Warwickshire. He was killed by a Royalist sniper at the Siege of Lichfield on 2 March 1643.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestation of 1641</span>

The Protestation of 1641 was an attempt to avert the English Civil War. Parliament passed a bill on 3 May 1641 requiring those over the age of 18 to sign the Protestation, an oath of allegiance to King Charles I and the Church of England, as a way to reduce the tensions across the realm. Signing them was a necessity in order to hold public office. Those that were not willing to sign it were also listed under it as refusing to pledge its oath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adventurers' Act 1640</span> 1642 law of England

The Adventurers' Act 1640 was an Act of the Parliament of England which specified its aim as "the speedy and effectual reducing of the rebels in His Majesty's Kingdom of Ireland".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laudianism</span> Early seventeenth-century English reform movement

Laudianism, also called Old High Churchmanship, or Orthodox Anglicanism as they styled themselves when debating the Tractarians, was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England that tried to avoid the extremes of Roman Catholicism and Puritanism by building on the work of Richard Hooker, and was promulgated by Archbishop William Laud and his supporters. It rejected the predestination upheld by Calvinism in favour of free will, and hence the possibility of salvation for all men through objective work of the sacraments. Laudianism had a significant impact on the Anglican high church movement and its emphasis on the sacraments, personal holiness, beautiful liturgy, and the episcopate. Laudianism was the culmination of the move to Arminianism in the Church of England, and led directly to the Caroline Divines, of which Laud was one of the first. The expression of this since the Oxford movement is often called Central churchmanship

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root and Branch petition</span> 1640 petition to the English Parliament

The Root and Branch Petition was a petition presented to the Long Parliament on 11 December 1640. The petition had been signed by 15,000 Londoners and was presented to the English Parliament by a crowd of 1,500. The petition called on Parliament to abolish episcopacy from the 'roots' and in all its 'branches'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Warner (bishop)</span> English churchman, Bishop of Rochester and royalist

John Warner was an English churchman, Bishop of Rochester and royalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Alexander Carew, 2nd Baronet</span> English landowner, soldier, and politician (1608–1644)

Sir Alexander Carew was an English landowner, soldier and politician from Antony, Cornwall. Elected Member of Parliament for Cornwall in November 1640, he voted for the execution of the Earl of Strafford in May 1641, and supported the removal of bishops from the Church of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Puritans under King Charles I</span> Puritan history of 1618–1649

Under Charles I, the Puritans became a political force as well as a religious tendency in the country. Opponents of the royal prerogative became allies of Puritan reformers, who saw the Church of England moving in a direction opposite to what they wanted, and objected to increased Catholic influence both at Court and within the Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Laud</span> Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645

William Laud was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms; he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 and executed towards the end of the First English Civil War in January 1645.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the wars of the Three Kingdoms:

References

  1. 1 2 Manganiello 2004, p. 60.
  2. ↑ Macleod 2009, pp. 5–19 passim.
  3. ↑ Wedgwood 1958, p. 31.
  4. ↑ Collinson 1984, p. 90.
  5. ↑ Rees 2016, p. 2.
  6. ↑ Rees 2016, pp. 7–8.
  7. ↑ Smith 1979, pp. 315–317.
  8. ↑ Rees 2016, pp. 9–10.
  9. ↑ Text of the Act at British History Online
  10. ↑ Ballinger 2012, p. 1890.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.