Religion Act 1580

Last updated

Religion Act 1580
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of England (1558-1603).svg
Long title An Act to retain the Queen's Majesty's Subjects in their due Obedience.
Citation 23 Eliz. 1. c. 1
Territorial extent  England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent 18 March 1581
Commencement 16 January 1581 [a]
Repealed9 August 1844
Other legislation
Repealed by Roman Catholics Act 1844
Relates to
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Religion Act 1580 or Recusancy Act 1680 (23 Eliz. 1. c. 1) was an act of the Parliament of England during the English Reformation. [1]

Contents

The act made it high treason to persuade English subjects to withdraw their allegiance to the Queen, or from the Church of England to Rome, or to promise obedience to a foreign authority.

The act also increased the fine for absenteeism from church to £20 a month or imprisonment until they conformed. Finally, the act fined and imprisoned those who celebrated the mass or attended a mass. [2]

Subsequent developments

The whole act was repealed by the Roman Catholics Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 102).

See also

Notes

  1. Start of session.

References

  1. Tomlins, Thomas Edlyne; Raithby, John (1811). Religion Act 1580 [23 Eliz. I. - A.D. 1580 Chapter I]. The Statutes at Large, of England and of Great Britain: from Magna Carta to the Union of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. IV. London, Great Britain: George Eyre and Andrew Strahan. pp. 374–377. OCLC   1110419501 via Internet Archive.
  2. Dudley Julius Medley, A Student's Manual of English Constitutional History. Sixth Edition (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1925), p. 638.

Bibliography