The persecution of dissenters under Charles II and James II

Question 1

Why was the persecution of the 1660s not an entirely new experience for the English Puritans?

Answer 1

The efforts of Bancroft and Laud to enforce uniformity in the Church would have provided similar experiences for those who left the Church (by choice or otherwise) - they would have received similar support from supporters.

Question 2

What 3 things made the Clarendon Code a different experience to during Laudian reforms?

Answer 2

1) Its scale and the numbers affected
2) The bitterness and desire for revenge with which it was enforced in many (but not all) places
3) The fact that it was directed primarily at those who wanted to remain within the Church - and had no desire to establish separate congregations

Question 3

Which 4 acts made up the Clarendon Code?

Answer 3

1) The Corporation Act (1661) - intended to make impossible for non-conformists to hold municipal offices
2) Act of Uniformity (1662) - excluded non-conformists from Church offices
3) As soon as it was apparent that meetings of some kind would continue - this was followed by the Conventicle Act (1664) - intended to widen the targets to include the laity who attended meetings and to isolate the ministers
4) Five Mile Act (1665) - sought to drive non-conformists away from their friends and allies that remained

Question 4

What was the aim of the Clarendon Code?

Answer 4

It was part of a coherent strategy on the part of the High Church party to create uniformity of worship across the kingdom + silence dissent of any kind

By 1669 - clear that the strategy failed

Question 5

Why, for many, was the impact of the Restoration felt long before the Act of Uniformity was passed in 1662?

Answer 5

John Shaw, presbyterian minister, was employed in Hull as a preacher at Holy Trinity Church - and as a master of a nearby almshouse

• In wake of the Corporation Act (1661) - the Corporation received a letter ordering the dismissal of 3 aldermen and of Shaw from Holy Trinity.

Shaw appealed to king - given permission to retain his post at the almshouse - continued preaching - indications that much of the congregation had followed him - leaving church half empty

• Result was a campaign of persecution by the garrison - 1 occasion when they closed the town gates early - forced 3000 people to sleep in the almshouse for protection.
• By June 1662 - Shaw banned from entering Hull - returned to his native Rotherham -

Question 6

What did the experience of John Shaw, due to the Clarendon Code, illustrate?

Answer 6

The combination of formal and informal method used to exact revenge on the ministers.

Question 7

Why weren’t the experiences, due to Clarendon Code, not confined to the clergy?

Answer 7

Oliver Heywood - recorded the trials and tribulations of a neighbour, Captain John Hodgson - served under Monck - known as the friend of Independent preachers, Thomas Jolly and Henry Root.

Hodgson’s religion was a provocation to local royalists - warned him that they would take revenge

Oct 1660 - arrested on false charges - forced to take oath of allegiance to the Crown and Church of England - imprisoned for several weeks to await trial - acquitted, but underwent similar experiences 4 times more within the next 18 months

Question 8

Who endured the worst suffering of all, due to the Clarendon Code?

Answer 8

The Quakers - already experiencing problems in wake of the Quaker Scare in 1659
- Scare led to several of their number being executed by the fearful authorities

Question 9

What was the impact of persecution on Quakers?

Answer 9

1) Particularly vulnerable as they refused to meet in secret
2) Because of their methods of worship - meeting in silence until 1 of those present was moved to speak by God - roused suspicions that they met for other, secret purposes
3) By early 1662 - Quaker Act in force - allowed them to be arrested and tendered Oath of Allegiance - most offered to make declaration rather than oath
4) Therefore, many were imprisoned without charge - for indefinite periods - including some Baptist preachers like John Bunyan

• Their organisation was shattered

Question 10

Which group did the Act of Uniformity have the most considerable impact on?

Answer 10

Presbyterians (and a few Congregationalists) who served within the Church and believed that a national establishment was necessary for both religious and social reasons.

Question 11

How many ministers left the church in this period, and how many of those were ejected the summer of 1662?

Answer 11

Of the 1,800 ministers who left the Church, around 1,000 were ejected in the summer of 1662.

Question 12

What was the reaction of ministers who were ejected?

Answer 12

It is impossible to generalise about their reactions - but many refused to give up their ministry - as long there were followers who sought their support - and meetings continued in private houses despite the danger of arrest.

Question 13

Who was Joseph Wilson?

Answer 13

Vicar of Hessle and Hull:

• Ejected in 1660 at behest of predecessor, William Styles
• Appointed to preach in St. Mary’s, Beverly, until the Act of Uniformity forced him out once more

When his successor arrived - riot ensued - the congregation barred the doors of the church - refused to allow new ministers access

• Wilson continued to preach in Anlaby until the Five Mile Act (1665) - he was not to live within 5 miles of where he was ejected

Question 14

How did some ministers benefit from ejection?

Answer 14

1) Benefitted from association with wealthy merchants or landowners, and were offered chaplaincies and payment for preaching
2) Ralph Ward, ejected in York - provided with an income and accommodation by Sir John and Lady Hewley, and conducted meetings from there for the rest of his life
3) The Stricklands of. Boynton - near Bridlington - supported several ministers in the area with regular gifts and sometimes legal help - main beneficiaries were Presbyterians

Question 15

When did the Conventicle Act expire?

Answer 15

1667

Question 16

What were the reasons for improvements for dissenters in the 1660s

Answer 16

1) Signs of a new network developing - even among Presbyterians - relied on personal contacts - Oliver Heywood was preaching in several places in West Yorkshire and Lancashire due to links with other ministers
2) Growing concern with declining numbers of dissenting clergy available to support meetings that existed - led dissenters to consider how to provide replacements - 1669: with support of Heywood and others, ejected Presbyterian, Richard Franklin, founded an academy to provide education to potential clergy - by 1689 - over 100 new recruits aded to ranks of dissenting clergy
- Reflected a changing attitude - ejected Presbyterians accepting an existence outside the Church and planned for the future

Question 17

Why was the organisation of the Quakers movement unusually orderly?

Answer 17

1) Each meeting was self-sufficiency in terms of daily worship and local support - didn’t require orders to be given from a central office
2) Poor relief was given to members separately in each congregation
3) The movement as a whole linked by travelling preachers, district monthly meetings and an Annual Meeting held at Skipton

Question 18

What happened to Quaker leaders between 1661 and 1664?

Answer 18

• Were effectively removed - to prison or worse
• Their leader - George Fox - imprisoned in Scarborough Castle in 1664
• Fox kept their in chains in one of the guard towers in a single chamber whose arrow-slit windows, devoid of class, let in very little light and a great deal of cold and damp from the nearby North Sea

Question 19

Upon George Fox’s release in 1666, what did he have to deal with?

Answer 19

He was faced with a movement on the verge of collapse:

1) Discussions had begun about how to restore some organisation and unity - Fox encouraged - he began to travel the length and breadth of the country
2) Meeting held in York, in 1668 - proposals for new structure put together - based on a system of district monthly meetings and an Annual Meeting in London run by a central committee
3) This system succeeded in transforming a powerful but diffuse gathering of enthusiasts into a highly organised, disciplined Church

1669 - development in early stages

Question 20

What did Gilbert Sheldon, the Archbishop of Canterbury campaign for in the late 1660s?

Answer 20

Renewal of the Conventicle Act - argued that dissent hand’t only survived, it had begun to organise more effectively

• Conducted survey to assess extent of dissent
• Wanted to raise the alarm and renew persecution, but didn’t want to suggest that the destruction of dissenting groups had become impossible

Resulted in the Second Conventicle Act 1670

Question 21

What was the impact of the Second Conventicle Act 1670?

Answer 21

Hard to assess but, overall, seems to have been limited
- Possibly because dissenters were more organised, but it’s likely that many were fed up with the ongoing persecution of people they knew to be decent, respectable neighbours

Question 22

Who was Sir Orlando Bridgeman and Sir Matthew Hale?

Answer 22

Judges:
1669 - supported by the Bishop of Chester - John Wilkins - they tried to introduce scheme for revising the Act of Uniformity to allow Comprehension of most dissenters within the Church

• This attempt rapidly failed - still significant indication of opposition to persecution within ruling elite and Church itseld

Question 23

How, in 1672, did Charles II join the chorus of disapproval of persecution?

Answer 23

Advocated the Declaration of Indulgence - suspending the Conventicle Act - and other persecuting laws - to allow dissenters the freedom not to attend church and to meet in licensed gatherings of their own

Question 24

When had Charles II previously tried to suspend the Act of Uniformity before 1672?

Answer 24

In 1662 - but the strength of anti-puritan sentiment in parliament and the Church had made effective action impossible

Question 25

What is comprehension?

Answer 25

Inclusion of a group, specifically non-conformists - within the Established Church - proposed several times between 17th and 19th century - but never fully adopted.

Question 26

Who was John Wilkins?

Answer 26

Bishop of Chester - believed that there was room for dissenters to be accommodated

• Found common ground with scholars through academic and scientific background - to maintain a good relationship with Cromwell
• Argued from the outset that persecution was both irrational and counter-productive - many others agreed

Latitudinarianism

Question 27

How, in 1667, did Charles II take advantage of a change in the political system?

Answer 27

• Changing attitudes, disgust against excesses of law, the dignity with which many of the non-conformists bore their sufferings brought political change
• Fall of Clarendon - 1667 - Charles appointed a group of close advisers (the Cabal) - included 2 Catholics, 1 near atheist and 2 with associations with moderate Puritanism
• Possibly first step to alleviating the position of Catholics - Charles felt able to challenge the High Church Anglicans and their parliamentary allies for control of policy

Question 28

What was unfairly blamed for the fall of Clarendon in 1667?

Answer 28

The failings of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

Question 29

What happened within a year of indulgence?

Answer 29

Charles had misjudged the mood of parliament - had a war against the Dutch and a financial crisis on his hands
- But dissenters consolidated the gains made by 1669 - lay the foundations of future development