Editing Declaration of Indulgence (1672)

{{Short description|Decree by King Charles II of England granting liberty to all Christians}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

The '''Declaration of Indulgence''' was [[Charles II of England]]'s attempt to extend religious liberty to [[Protestant]] [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformists]] and [[Roman Catholics]] in his realms, by suspending the execution of the [[British penal laws|Penal Laws]] that punished [[Recusancy|recusants]] from the [[Church of England]]. Charles issued the Declaration on 15 March 1672.

It was highly controversial and [[Sir Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Baronet, of Great Lever|Sir Orlando Bridgeman]], son of a bishop, resigned as [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]], because he refused to apply the Great Seal to it, regarding it as too generous to Catholics.

In 1673 the [[Cavalier Parliament]] compelled Charles to withdraw the declaration and implement, in its place, the first of the [[Test Acts]] (1673), which required anyone entering public service in England to deny the Catholic doctrine of [[transubstantiation]] and to take Anglican communion.<ref>{{cite book|title=Europe: From the Renaissance to Waterloo|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.88491|last=Ergang|first=Robert|year=1939|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.88491/page/n465 416]|publisher=D. C. Heath and Company}}</ref> When Charles II's openly Catholic successor [[James II of England|James II]] attempted to issue a similar [[Declaration of Indulgence (1687)|Declaration of Indulgence]], an order for general [[religious tolerance]], it became one of the grievances that led to the [[Glorious Revolution]] which ousted him from the throne.

==See also==
{{Wikisource|Royal Declaration of Indulgence}}
*[[Declaration of Indulgence (1687)]]
*[[Religion in the United Kingdom]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Declaration Of Indulgence}}
[[Category:English laws]]
[[Category:1672 in England]]
[[Category:1672 in law]]
[[Category:1672 works]]
[[Category:Christianity and law in the 17th century]]
[[Category:Charles II of England]]
[[Category:1672 in Christianity]]
[[Category:History of Catholicism in England]]


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