The Church of England, 140-62

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  • Created by: Tori
  • Created on: 15-04-20 17:57
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  • The Church of England, 1640-62
    • Parliament's reordering of the church, 1640-53
      • From 1643 Parliament introduced a series of measures to reform the Church of England.
        • Included:
          • The office of bishop was abolished in favour of a Presbyterian form of government.
            • Meant that church rule was carried out by organisations of deacons and local elders.
          • Book of Common Prayer was banned.
            • Replaced by the Directory of Worship.
          • Arminian features of churches (eg. stain glass and statues) were removed.
          • Traditional Christian festivals (eg. Christmas and Easter) were no longer celebrated.
            • Instead, they became days of fasting and prayer.
          • In 1650 a Toleration Act ended the requirement of compulsory attendance at the national church's service.
        • These changes led to thousands of parish priests being expelled from their homes.
          • Many bishops were imprisoned or exiled, or simply went into hiding.
    • The Cromwellian Church, 1653-60
      • One of Cromwell's key aims was to bring aout a religious and social reformation.
        • This meant establishing 'godly rule' and an improvement in public morality on the lines suggested by the Puritans
      • The Instrument of Government of 1653 was England's first written constitution.
        • As well as estalishing the republican form of government, it granted liberty of worship to all except Catholics and the more extreme Protestant sects.
    • Restoration of Anglicanism, 1660-62
      • The restoration in May 1660 restored the Anglican Church, as well as the Stuart monarchy.
        • Charles II's showed he favoured religious toleration for non-conformists and Catholics in his Declaration of Breda.
        • The king and his cheif minister (Clarendon) sought to broaden the Church of England.
          • Wanted to accommodate moderate protestant groups that had emerged during/after the Civil War.
          • In 1661 the Savoy House Conference met to discuss the issue.
            • However, members of the Cavalier Parliament opposed the toleration offered at Breda.
              • Instead, they imposed a narrow religious settlement that became known as the Clarendon Code.
                • Included:
                  • Act of Uniformity (1662) made the Book of Common Prayer compulsary in all churches.
                  • Corporation Act (1661) required all involved in local government to be communicant members of the Church of England.
                  • Conventicle Act (1664), religious meetings of 5 or more were forbidden.
                  • The 5 Mile Act (1665) established that clergymen who had been expelled from their parish for refusing to comply with the Act of Uniformity could not go within 5 miles of their former parish.
                • Clarendon and Charles didn't support the narrow and vindictive religious settlement, but were forced to go with Parliament's wishes.
                • 2000 clergy were deprived of their livings for refusing the Act of Uniformity.
                  • Many of these emigrated to America (like the Puritans before them).
      • Although the Anglican Church had been restored in the 1660s, it could no longer pretend to have exclusive control over the country's religious beliefs.
        • Despite the persecution of religious dissenters, non-conformists remained a significant minority within many parts of the country.
  • Before 1640, the Church of England played a key role in the political and social life of the country.
    • The years 1640-60 saw the virtual destruction of the Church of Englnd as the centre of religious life.

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