chapter twenty three Flashcards
during 1678-81 the exclusion crisis was the dominant religious issue , when catholic James II came into power in 1685 the church remains a
stronghold of conservative anglicanicism enforced by those who dominated parliament
however during James II reign he made direct attempt to extended toleration to protestant dissenters , including quakes and catholics as such the
glorious revolution was a reaction against both whigs and tories
the glorious revolution ended catholics hopes but because of Williams approach to religion it also brought about
some change for protestant dissenters
William was regarded by the whigs as a
calvinist hero who had saved them from catholicism and absolutism
William was sympathetic to
dissenters
in practice William was in tune with the development of latitudinariansm that was a feature of many
clergy in the cofe
and many dissenters
latitudinarianism emerged gradually after 1660 but became more prominent as a view point among
some of the elite after 1688
as a result William appointed many
latititudinarins as bishops during the reign
over time such appointments , alongside latitudinarians already in the church helped soften the approach of the
cofe to moderate dissenters
nevertheless the continuing dominance of anglicans in the churches governing body , the local parish hierarchy and among the gentry of the PN meant that no matter the intention of William the
church remained centred on a relatively narrow anglican position the limited the extent of toleration of non conformists
when William and Mary came into power they sought religious settlement and wanted to repeal
the test acts
- acts that restricted catholics and dissenters from taking public office
in march 1689 a comprehension nbill was proposed but the Anglican church governing body , the convocation ,
rejected the bill and parliament was willing only to pass a limited toleration act
by 1689 Anglicans and moderate dissenters had moved closer together under the threat of
James II Catholicism
the eventual toleration act was thus a weaker measure than William would’ve wanted , the toleration act of 1689 allowed
dissenters to be exempted from the penal laws if they took the oath of allegiance and were willing to make a declaration against transubstantiation
dissenters could now worship freely if their meeting house was licensed and they kept their
doors open during services
during the year after the act ,x meeting houses received licenses
900
the toleration act did not however exempt dissenters from the test acts and they were therefore
barred from public office
catholics revived no concessions , thus anglicans essentially remained in control of the church ,this is reflective of
parliament representing a PN that remained conservative and anglican in outlook
the main question that caused division within the church of England was the extent of toleration :
should the church be broadened to encompass some dissenters , or maintained as it was
the toleration act of 1689 gave limited religious tolerances to dissenters , however tories were worried by the
further expansion of quakers after the toleration act of 1689
William also appointed latitudinarians as bishops for example
John Tilloston became archbishop of Canterbury in 1691
the appointment of Tilloston concerned tories because they believed that
such clergy members such as Tilloston were not doing enough to prevent what they feared was the rapid growth of dissenters
there were a few reasons why tories were fearful of this :
- many dissenters were monied men who quickly grew wealthy as they lent money to others and funded investments posing threat to traditional anglican PN
- tories were prejudiced and believed that dissenters would destroy cofe , and traditional clergy men felt loss of control
- tory fears were triggered by the growth of dissenters greater freedom to publish , tories panicked and developed a slogan ‘church in danger’ , tory attempts to prevent bills in p were stopped by latitudinarians and whigs
the position of catholics remained a source of tension in 1689 , the glorious revolution was designed to
prevent any toleration of Catholicism
while it slowly became easier for catholics to worship without interference , they remained a
minority subject to persecution as they were followers of an illegal religion
anti catholicism and links with the threat of absolutist catholic france remained a theme in
English politics throughout Williams rule
the French king Louis XIV was the dominating European power of the time and had the potential to
attain universal monarchy
however two events helped to quiet down anti catholicism sentiments over time as the the threat of catholicism being
imposed was seen as less of a danger
one was williams wars on the continent which prevented
catholic Louis XIV from completely dominating Western Europe
the other was his victory at the battle of the boyne in July 1690 over the
catholic Jacobite inspired invasion from Ireland
ireland was the centre of Jacobite resistance when Willian and Mary became monarchs , as there were
many catholics there who were loyal to James II
By March 1689 catholics controlled all of Ireland apart from Ulster ,therefore Ireland posed a threat of
catholic invasion on behalf of the exiled monarch
James landed in Ireland 1689 with
3000 French troops
with the war against Louis XIV going badly , William landed in Ireland in
June 1690
in total William could call on about 36,000 troops in comparison to
James II 25,000
on the 1st July William defeated James at the battle of boyne and herby ended any serious hopes the
Jacobites had of using Ireland as a launching pad for an invasion of England
After the battle of boyne , protestant control was imposed on
all of Ireland
despite the promise of concessions in the treaty of Limerick of 1691 after Williams victory toleration for
catholics was not on the agenda
instead the Irish and English parliaments , through a variety of measure established a
penal code that restricted opportunities for catholics in both Ireland and england
