19. Religious divisions and conflicts 1660 - 78 Flashcards
Patriarcha
-Written by Robert Filmer and published with help from Archbishop of Canterbury
-Believes authority comes from god and the monarch
Religious divisions on Charles’ return
Divided and needed a restoration of the Church of England
Dissenters
Protestants who felt unable to attend Church regularly or take Anglican communion - preferred to worship in separate, often private meetings
Venner’s uprising
Evidence of why the Clarendon code kicked off - Jan 61 - led by Fifth Monarchist Venner - the potential danger reinforced opinion among Anglican that religious dissenters were a threat to both Church and state (both want stability)
Restoration of church of England 1660
-Charles and Clarendon wanted a broad Anglican church
-Savoy house conference saw clerics of presbyterians and anglicans meet to try and compromise on Bishops and the prayer book, but negotiations broke down
-Cavalier parliament removed 1,000 Presbyterian ministers and instated a conservative, strict Anglican church
-Cavalier parliament ordered MP’s to take communion by Anglican rite
-Catholics and dissenters prosecuted
Clarendon Code 1661
-The restoration church settlement
-Moderate Presbyterians absorbed
-Under control of parliament, not King
3 aspects of the Clarendon Code
1) 1661 - Corporation Act barred from municipal office anyone who wouldn’t swear allegiance to the Crown, renounce the Solemn League + Covenant and worship according to the rites of the Anglican Church
2) 1662 - Act of Uniformity required all clergymen (+teachers) to be practiced Anglicans - c.1800 ministers refused to take it + ‘deprived of livings’
3) 1662 - Quaker Act decreed harsh punishments for members of this especially feared sect - 15,000 punished
Effect of church restoration in 1660
-Barely even represented the nation anymore
-less power to enforce conformity due to removal of prerogative courts
-to local governments to enforce authority
-Dissenters strong in urban settings, anglicans in rural areas - just pushed underground
Charles’ religious policies 1660
-Sought more inclusion for Catholics
-Lords bill in 62 attempted to repeal anti-catholic laws but failed in commons and the lords
-Policies towards dissenters varied depending on threats against the regime
Charles II’s religious laws
-1662 act of uniformity listed public prayers and church rites to be followed, required to hold office
-In response to Northern rising (Millenarians rising in Yorkshire), the 1664 Conventicle Act stated religious meetings of 5+ people banned
-5 mile act 1665 banned preachers that refused compulsory oaths under 1662 act of uniformity from entering 5 miles within a town or parish in which they had taught
-1670 == second conventicle act enforced persecution
Dissenter numbers under Charles II
-In the 76 Compden census, of 2.25 million in England, 100,000 were dissenters - 1.5% of pop
-most likely this is higher at 200,000 to 300,000
Attitudes towards Dissenters under Charles II
-Became less militant due to restoration of monarchy being seen as gods disapproval of overthrowing it
-1664 conventicle act expired in 68, allowing more freedom of worship
-In 69, however, £300,000 denied to Charles unless he accepted the acts renewal, forced to enforce it in 70
-On March 15th 72, declaration of indulgence suspended penal laws for all, but withdrawn in 73 with the test act introduced
-Danby reverted to a more rigid church policy to protect against France
Persecution of Dissenters
-Charles prosecuted dissenters more than tolerated them
-Quakers in particular suffered heavy persecution
-1662 Quaker act outlined punishments for Quakers, from fines to transportation
-450 Quakers died in prison and 15,000 more were punished
-In the 70’s and 80’s, thousands died from persecution
-Fifth Monarchist Major General Thomas Harrison - hung, drawn + quartered in 1660, 1662 show trials - Henry Vane w/ bias juries - kept w/o food + water till guilty verdict
Consequences of persecution of dissenters
-Quakers declared absolute pacifism in 1661 under George Fox
-Dissent had limited appeal after restoration due to its high demand and exclusion of illiterate
-Development of Latitudinarianism
-Miller argues that Dissenters continued into the 18th century but were never united again as in the 50’s
Latitudinarianism
Belief that reason and personal judgement more useful than church doctrine
Millenarians after restoration
-Saw failure of the commonwealth as loss of gods favour
-John Milton wrote paradise lost
-Many persecuted and executed
-Thomas Harrison tried and executed
-Vane and Lambert tried, Vane killed, Lambert imprisoned until his death in 84
Catholic influence in Charles II’s court
-Mother Henrietta Maria
-Wife Catherine Braganza
-James II
-Earl of Bristol
-Many Cabal crypto Catholics
-Charles tried to emulate Louis of France
-Charles’ Mistresses such as Duchess of Portsmouth
-Catholic architecture and artistic expression at court
Court of Charles II
-Pragmatic and drunken, like that of his Grandfather
-Earl of Rochester died of syphillis at age 33
-French/Catholic fashions and ideas
-Reassembled Charles I’s art collection
-Party
