Editing Act of Uniformity 1662

{{Short description|United Kingdom law of religion and the Church of England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = February 2019}}
{{Use British English|date = February 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Act of Uniformity 1662{{efn|The citation of this act by this [[short title]] was authorised by section 5 of, and schedule 2 to, the [[Statute Law Revision Act 1948]]. Due to the repeal of those provisions, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the [[Interpretation Act 1978]].}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = An Act for the Uniformity of Publique Prayers and Administracion of Sacramentes & other Rites & Ceremonies and for establishing the Form of making ordaining and consecrating Bishops Preists and Deacons in the Church of England.{{efn|These words are printed against this act in the second column of schedule 2 to the [[Statute Law Revision Act 1948]], which is headed "Title".}}
| year                  = 1662
| citation              = [[14 Cha. 2]]. c. 4{{br}}{{ubli|(Ruffhead: {{nowrap|13 & 14 Cha. 2. c. 4}})}}
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = {{ubli|[[England and Wales]]|[[Northern Ireland]] (repealed)}}
| royal_assent          = 19 May 1662
| commencement          = 7 January 1662{{efn|Start of session.}}
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = {{ubli|23 May 1950 (in Northern Ireland)|1 January 1970 (sections 2, 3 & 17)|12 December 1974 (except sections 10 and 15)}}
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = {{ubli|[[Maintenance of Church of England Act 1706]]|[[Roman Catholics Act 1844]]|[[Religious Disabilities Act 1846]]|[[Clerical Subscription Act 1865]]|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1863]]|[[Promissory Oaths Act 1871]]|[[Act of Uniformity Amendment Act 1872]]|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1888]]|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1948]]|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1950]] (in Northern Ireland)|[[Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969]] (sections 2, 3 & 17)|[[Church of England (Worship and Doctrine) Measure 1974]] (except sections 10 and 15)|[[Church of England (Ecumenical Relations) Measure 1988]]|[[Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1992]]|[[Cathedrals Measure 2021]]|[[Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2024]]}}
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Partially_Repealed
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Cha2/14/4/enacted
| revised_text          = http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Cha2/14/4
| use_new_UK-LEG        = yes
}}

The '''Act of Uniformity 1662''' ([[14 Cha. 2]]. c. 4) is an [[Act of Parliament (United Kingdom)|act]] of the [[Parliament of England]]. (It was formerly cited as 13 & 14 [[Charles II of England|Cha. 2]]. c. 4, by reference to the regnal year when it was passed on 19 May 1662.) It prescribed the form of public [[prayer]]s, administration of [[sacraments]], and other [[Rite (Christianity)|rites]] of the Established [[Church of England]], according to the rites and ceremonies prescribed in the [[1662 Book of Common Prayer|1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'']]. Adherence to this was required in order to hold any office in government or the church, although the new version of the ''Book of Common Prayer'' prescribed by the Act was so new that most people had never even seen a copy. The Act also required that the ''Book of Common Prayer'' "be truly and exactly Translated into the British or [[Welsh language|Welsh]] Tongue". It also explicitly required [[episcopal polity|episcopal]] [[ordination]] for all ministers, i.e. deacons, priests and bishops, which had to be reintroduced since the [[Puritan]]s had abolished many features of the Church during the [[English Civil War|Civil War]]. The act did not explicitly encompass the [[Isle of Man]].<ref>{{DNB|first=Alexander |last=Gordon |wstitle=Wilson, Thomas (1663-1755)|display=Wilson, Thomas (1663–1755) |volume=62 |pages=139–142)}}</ref>

A few sections of this act were still in force in the United Kingdom at the end of 2010.<ref>The [[Chronological Table of the Statutes]], 1235–2010. [[The Stationery Office]]. 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-11-840509-6}}. Part I. p. 63, read with pp. viii and x.</ref>

== Great Ejection ==
{{main|Great Ejection}}
As an immediate result of the act, over 2,000 clergymen refused to take the oath and were expelled from the [[Church of England]] in what became known as the [[Great Ejection]] of 1662.  Although there had already been ministers outside the established church, this created the concept of [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformity]], with a substantial section of English society excluded from public affairs for a century and a half.

== Clarendon Code ==
The Act of Uniformity itself is one of four crucial pieces of legislation, known as the [[Clarendon Code]], named after [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Edward Hyde]], Earl of Clarendon, [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]'s Lord Chancellor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dudley |first=Albert Cassell |date=1912 |title=Nonconformity Under the "Clarendon Code" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1832693 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=65–78 |doi=10.2307/1832693 |jstor=1832693 |issn=0002-8762}}</ref> They are:

*The [[Corporation Act 1661]] ([[13 Cha. 2 St. 2]]. c. 1) – This first of the four statutes which made up the Clarendon Code required all municipal officials to take Anglican communion, and formally reject the [[Solemn League and Covenant]] of 1643. The effect of this act was to exclude [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformists]] from public office. This legislation was rescinded in 1828.
*The '''Act of Uniformity 1662''' – This second statute made use of the Book of Common Prayer compulsory in religious service. Upwards of 2000 clergy refused to comply with this act, and were forced to resign their livings.
*The [[Conventicle Act 1664]] ([[16 Cha. 2]]. c. 4) – This act forbade conventicles (a meeting for unauthorized worship) of more than 5 people who were not members of the same household. The purpose was to prevent [[English Dissenters|dissenting]] religious groups from meeting.
*The [[Five Mile Act 1665]] – This final act of the Clarendon Code was aimed at Nonconformist ministers, who were forbidden from coming within five miles of incorporated towns or the place of their former livings. They were also forbidden to teach in schools. This act was not rescinded until 1812.

Combined with the [[Test Act]], the [[Corporation Act]]s excluded all nonconformists from holding civil or military office, and prevented them from being awarded degrees by the [[university|universities]] of [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] and [[University of Oxford|Oxford]].

== Quakers Act 1662 ==
{{seealso|History of the Religious Society of Friends}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Quakers Act 1662
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = An Act for preventing the Mischiefs and Dangers that may arise, by certain Persons called Quakers, and others, refusing to take lawful Oaths.
| year                  = 1662
| citation              = 14 Cha. 2. c. 1{{br}}(Ruffhead: {{nowrap|13 & 14 Cha. 2. c. 1}}
| territorial_extent    = [[England and Wales]]
| royal_assent          = 2 May 1662
| commencement          = 24 March 1661{{efn|Section 1.}}
| repeal_date           = 29 July 1812
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Places of Religious Worship Act 1812]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| original_text         = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/pp350-351
}}

Another Act, the '''Quaker Act 1662''', required subjects to swear an oath of allegiance to the king, which [[Quakers]] did not do out of religious conviction. It set out specific penalties for first (a fine of up to £5, or three months' imprisonment with hard labour), second (a fine of up to £10, or six months imprisonment with hard labour), and third (transportation) offence. It also allowed that should the defendant subsequently agree to swear oaths and not attend unlawful assemblies (as defined by the Act) then all penalties would be cancelled.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles II, 1662: An Act for preventing the Mischeifs and Dangers that may arise by certaine Persons called Quakers and others refusing to take lawfull Oaths. {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/pp350-351 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk |publisher=British History Online |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref>

== Book of Common Prayer ==
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' introduced by Charles II was substantially the same as Elizabeth's version of 1559, itself based on [[Thomas Cranmer|Thomas Cranmer's]] earlier [[Book of Common Prayer (1552)|version of 1552]]. Apart from minor changes this remains the official and permanent legal version of prayer authorised by Parliament and Church.

== Act of Toleration ==
The [[Toleration Act 1688]] ([[1 Will. & Mar.]] c. 18) allowed certain dissenters places and freedom to worship, provided they accept to subscribe to an oath.

== Modified in 1872 ==
The provisions of the Act of Uniformity 1662 were modified and partly revoked by the [[Act of Uniformity Amendment Act 1872]] ([[35 & 36 Vict.]] c. 35). This has been repealed by the [[General Synod]].

== See also ==
*[[Act of Uniformity (disambiguation)|Act of Uniformity]]
*[[Conformist]]
*[[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]]
*[[Puritan's Pit]]
*[[Religion in the United Kingdom]]
*[[Savoy Conference]]
*[[Thomas Becket]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author=Edmund Calamy |year=1775 |editor=Samuel Palmer |editor-link=Samuel Palmer (biographer) |title=The Nonconformist's Memorial: Being an Account of the Lives, Sufferings, and Printed Works, of the Two Thousand Ministers Ejected from the Church of England, Chiefly by the Act of Uniformity, Aug. 24, 1666 |url=https://archive.org/details/nonconformistsm00calagoog |volume=1 |location=London |publisher=W. Harris}}
* {{cite book |author=Edmund Calamy |year=1778 |editor=Samuel Palmer |title=The Nonconformist's Memorial: Being an Account of the Lives, Sufferings, and Printed Works, of the Two Thousand Ministers Ejected from the Church of England, Chiefly by the Act of Uniformity, Aug. 24, 1666 |url=https://archive.org/details/nonconformistsme02cala |volume=2 |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Alexander Hogg}}

== External links ==
*[https://archives.parliament.uk/collections/getrecord/GB61_HL_PO_PU_1_1662_14C2n3 Digital reproduction of the Original Act on the Parliamentary Archives catalogue]
* [http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/intro/uniformity_1662.html Text of the Act]
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47307 Text of the Act, in ''Statutes of the Realm'', vol. 5 at British History Online]
* {{UK-LEG|Act of Uniformity 1662|path=aep/Cha2/14/4/contents}}

{{Clarendon code}}
{{Anglican liturgical books}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Act Of Uniformity 1662}}
[[Category:1662 in Christianity]]
[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of England 1662]]
[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of England concerning religion]]
[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of England still in force]]
[[Category:Christianity and law in the 17th century]]
[[Category:History of the Church of England]]
[[Category:Great Ejection]]
[[Category:The Restoration]]