318:
entered into negotiations with the government. To them it was represented that if more concessions were required more assurances should be given. They were accordingly presented with a long "Protest", which not only rejected the alleged malpractices, already disowned by the Irish Oath, but declaimed against them and others of the same kind in strong but untheological language. It reintroduced, for instance, the objectionable terms "impious, heretical and damnable" of James's Oath of
Allegiance. The committee insisted (1) that words would be understood in a broad popular way, and (2) that, to obtain the Relief Act, it must be signed instantly. To prevent such a misfortune, it was freely signed by laity and clergy, and by the four vicars Apostolic, but two of these recalled their names. When, however, the signatures had been obtained, the new Relief Bill was brought forward by Government, with an oath annexed founded on the Protest (the "Protestation Oath"), which excluded from relief those who would not swear to it, and accept the name of "Protesting Catholic Dissenters".
298:
pope's spiritual authority, or to any dogma of the Faith. The alleged malpractice of "no faith with heretics" was renounced (§ 3), so was the deposing power (§ 4), but without the objectionable words, "impious, damnable and heretical." The "temporal and civil jurisdiction of the pope, direct and indirect within the realm" was also abjured (§ 5), and the promise was given that no dispensation from this oath should be considered valid (§ 6). This Irish Oath, of 1774, was accepted by the legislative authorities as proof of loyalty, and it was freely taken.
760:
262:
discussion, for its form and scope had been expressly intended to hamper a reform such as James was instituting. He freed himself, however, more or less from it by the
Dispensing Power, especially after the declaration of the judges, June, 1686, that it was contrary to the principles of the constitution to prevent the Crown from using the services of any of its subjects when they were needed.
242:, which compelled all holders of office under the Crown to make a short "Declaration against Transubstantiation", viz., to swear that "there is not any transubstantiation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, . . . at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever" (25 Chas. II, c. 2). This test was effective: James resigned his post of Lord High Admiral.
226:
revived the Oaths of
Supremacy and Allegiance, which were taken on 14 July 1660. The Catholics in England being at first in some favour at Court, managed, as a rule, to escape taking it. In Ireland the old controversy was revived through an address to the Crown, called "The Irish Remonstrance", which
130:
This was not to be proposed at once to every one; but was to be taken by the clergy, and by all holding office under the Crown; by others, when asked. This moderation in exacting the oath helped to prevent an outcry against it, and enabled the
Government to deal with the recalcitrant in detail. Many
90:
Two years later, the king had broken with the pope, and
Parliament had enacted that the king should be "taken, accepted and reputed the only supreme head on Earth of the church of England" by every one of his subjects. But no formula for the oath was laid down in the Act, and great differences seem
249:
in 1678, however, a new test was devised, later known as "the King's
Declaration". This test added a further clause that "The invocation of the virgin Mary, or any Saint and the Sacrifice of the Mass . . . are superstitious and idolatrous . . . and that I make this declaration without any evasion,
317:
The relief given by the bill of 1778 was so imperfect that further legislation was soon called for, and now the disadvantages of the system of tests were acutely felt. A committee of lay
Catholics, with Gallican proclivities, who afterwards characteristically called themselves the Cisalpine Club
201:
Everyone was to be "adjudged a Papist" who refused this oath, and the consequent penalties began with the confiscation of two thirds of the recusant's goods, and went on to deprive him of almost every civic right. In practice the enactments were sparingly enforced. They checked the gallicanizing
297:
The Irish
Government took the first step by undoing William III's work of joining the profession of fidelity to the sovereign with the rejection of papal authority. In 1774 an oath was proposed of allegiance to King George (§ 1) and rejection of the Pretender (§ 2), but without prejudice to the
150:
party, as they were to become, and they were not in love with the supremacy. An informal test was used, asking the suspected person whether he would fight against the pope, if he sent an army to restore
Catholicism. The Catholics called this the "bloody question". There was no law to enforce an
261:
succeeded, and he would no doubt have gladly abolished the anti-Catholic oaths altogether. But he never had the opportunity of bringing the project before
Parliament. The Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance were less of a live issue during James's reign, but the Test was the subject of constant
325:
The Second Relief Act, therefore, passed (1791) without changing the previous oath, or the name of Catholics. Though the Emancipation Bill was eventually carried without any tests, this was not foreseen at first. The Catholic Committee continued its endeavours, but their proposals (like the
269:
added a clause to the Bill of Rights, which was then passed, by which the Sovereign was himself to take the Declaration (1 W. & M., sess. 1, c. 8). By this device no Catholic could ever be admitted to accept the new regime, without renouncing their faith.
413:
is believed to have urged the Government to bring in a repealing Act. This was done and public opinion, after some wavering, finally declared itself strongly on the side of the Bill, which was carried through both Houses by large majorities, and received
301:
In 1778, the first Relief Bill, came before the British Parliament. It was intended to relieve the English Catholics from the worst consequences of the penal laws, and in it was embodied the Irish Oath. This bill was passed with little difficulty, as the
250:
equivocation, or mental reservation whatsoever, and without any dispensation already granted me by the pope, &c., &c. (30 Chas. II, ii. 1). It was originally appointed for office holders and the members of both Houses, except the Duke of York.
73:, 11 February 1531; and had been resisted by the clergy. Though it did not as yet have any religious significance, and might be a matter of compliment only, it might, they feared, receive another interpretation later. But acting under the advice of
126:"I, A.B., do utterly testify and declare in my conscience, that the Queen's Highness is the only supreme Governor of the Realm . . . as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical things or causes as Temporal, &c. &c. &c. So help me God."
342:
The Relief Bills were generally measures of relief only, leaving the old statutes, oaths, and tests still on the Statute Book, and some of the chief officers of State had still to take them. The actual repeal of the disused tests and oaths of
139:). It comprised (1) A confession of "grievous offence against God in contemning her Majesty's Government"; (2) Royal Supremacy; (3) A clause against dispensations and dissimulations, perhaps the first of its sort in oaths of this class.
505:
162:
had afterwards presented to Elizabeth a "Protestation of Allegiance". This was not the first example of such a declaration of loyalty, but it was the first which withheld from the pope any possible exercise of the
39:. With some solemnity, by oath, test, or formal declaration, English churchmen and others were required to assent to the religious changes, starting in the sixteenth century and continuing for more than 250 years.
202:
party among the English Catholics, which had at first been ready to offer forms of submission similar to the old oath of Allegiance, which is stated (Reusch, 335) to have been condemned anew about this time by
330:) often savoured of Gallicanism. So too did the oath annexed to the bill proposed in 1813, which from its length was styled the "Theological Oath". Eventually, owing to the growing influence exercised by
374:
in the House of Lords to get rid of the king's Declaration, but the amendments offered by the government were so insignificant that the Catholics themselves voted against their being proposed at all.
91:
to have prevailed in practice. Many long "acknowledgments of supremacy" are extant but it would seem that most people were only asked to swear to the Succession, that is to the king's marriage with
194:, the exaction of the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance fell into desuetude, and they were repealed by the Act of February, 1650, and their place taken by an "engagement of allegiance" to the
770:
131:
years elapsed, for instance, before it was imposed on the graduates of the universities. The last laws passed by Elizabeth against Catholics (1592-3) enjoined a new test for
355:
581:
656:
282:
proposed unsuccessfully to free Catholic soldiers from the obligations of the Test. In 1774, however, it was necessary to pacify Canada, and the
227:
emphasized the principles of the condemned Oath of Allegiance. It had been drawn up by a Capuchin friar (who afterwards left the order), called
239:
398:
797:
390:
265:
The Revolution of 1688 quickly brought the Test back into greater vogue than ever. The first Parliament summoned after the triumph of
792:
154:
Towards the end of Elizabeth's reign, a split began in the Catholic ranks on this subject. Some of the priests who had joined in the
327:
180:
17:
685:
394:
385:, and the Catholics of the English colonies. In 1904, 1905, and 1908 bills or motions to the same effect were introduced by
362:
c. 75). After this, the only person bound to pronounce the oath was the king himself at the commencement of his reign. The
431:
419:
99:
preserved in The Lords' Journals, refers to the supremacy only lightly. It is unclear what form of the oath Fisher and
511:
406:
210:, who generally used the pseudonym William Birchley. The oath was also used against Quakers who refused any oath.
143:
103:
refused to sign. They were ready to accept the succession of Anne Boleyn's children, but refused the supremacy.
410:
351:
311:
286:
was passed, the first measure of toleration for Catholics sanctioned by Parliament since the days of the Tudor
807:
291:
238:, then Duke of York, the jealousy of the Protestant party increased, and in 1672 a Test Act was carried by
594:
294:, the difficulties of which gradually awakened English statesmen to the need of reconciling Catholics.
378:
363:
159:
136:
231:, who published many books in its defence, which publications were eventually placed on the Index.
688:, The Papal Declaration in Report of the Ninth Eucharistic Congress held at Westminster, 1908, 50;
381:, as also by its hierarchy, and these were emphasized by similar petitions from the hierarchies of
111:
56:
491:
485:
207:
195:
691:
524:
344:
266:
155:
115:
95:, which the pope condemned, and which therefore involved the supremacy, though the form of the
28:
476:, Parliamentary Debates; Journals of the House of Lords, and Journals of the House of Commons;
775:
749:
563:
557:
254:
119:
66:
62:
666:
646:
611:
319:
228:
8:
331:
258:
235:
223:
445:
198:. An "Oath of Abjuration was passed 19 August 1643, and afterwards, in 1656, reissued.
96:
370:
c. 48) removed all the old Oaths of Allegiance. In 1891 the first attempt was made by
488:, Mem. of English Catholics (London, 1819), Catholic, but with Gallican proclivities;
287:
191:
107:
52:
48:
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on 3 August 1910, thus removing the last anti-Catholic oath or declaration from the
624:
367:
359:
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and the Irish, Catholic Emancipation was granted without any tests at all in 1829.
303:
479:
314:'s Act and the oath was taken without remonstrance by the clergy of all schools.
203:
337:
802:
679:, The Catholic Oath in The Catholic Miscellany (1832, 1833), III, 368; IV. 100.
534:
164:
78:
786:
764:
501:
455:
279:
32:
676:
415:
402:
371:
697:
____, The English Coronation Oath in The Month (London, March, 1896), 305;
167:, rather than simply denying the validity of the deposition pronounced by
569:
386:
246:
168:
100:
92:
74:
70:
273:
636:
283:
35:, and submission to its essential points was exacted by the State with
544:
382:
307:
377:
In 1901 strong resolutions were passed against its retention by the
763: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
185:
132:
81:, and others, they submitted after adding the conditional phrase,
473:
147:
694:, The Religious Test Acts in The Month (London, May, 1895), 58;
42:
338:
Repeal of the Statutory Oaths against Catholicism (1867-1910)
190:
When the Puritan party had gained the upper hand during the
65:). The title "Supreme Head" had first been introduced by
560:, Dodd's Church History of England, IV (London, 1851);
206:. The chief writer on the Catholic side was the lawyer
174:
671:
The Dawn of the Catholic Revival in England 1781-1803
405:, but without the desired effect. After the death of
274:
The Irish Oath of 1774 to Catholic Emancipation, 1829
606:
Reflections on the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance
506:
Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics
784:
752:, "Catholic Hierarchy", Rome, 1888, p. 126.
482:, Parliamentary Hist. of England (London, 1806);
186:Oath of Abjuration under the Commonwealth (1643)
586:De Jacobo I, cum Card. R. Bellarmino disputante
465:Statutes at Large (Ireland) (Dublin, 1765--).
213:
106:The Act of Supremacy was repealed in 1554 by
573:
151:answer and no specific penalty for refusal.
43:Oath of Royal Supremacy (1534, renewed 1559)
82:
768:
651:Supplementary Memoirs of English Catholics
142:Elizabeth's "settlement of religion" (see
566:, Index der verboten Bücher (Bonn, 1883);
469:For the debates in the parliament, see:
181:Oath of Allegiance of James I of England
539:Lollardy and the Reformation in England
14:
785:
704:in The Month (London, May, 1901), 449.
661:The Life and Times of Bishop Challoner
354:, the Declaration was repealed by the
575:Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus
322:, later a bishop, argued against it.
61:This oath was imposed in March 1534 (
779:. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
175:Oath of Allegiance of James I (1606)
517:
432:Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)
146:) had included compromise with the
24:
769:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "
740:Tierney-Dodd, infra, iii, Ap. 188.
222:.) The first Parliament after the
158:and appeal against the archpriest
25:
819:
798:History of Catholicism in England
122:). The formula then adopted ran:
793:History of the Church of England
758:
722:Camm, "English Martyrs", I, 401.
512:Dictionary of National Biography
496:History of the Church in England
144:Elizabethan Religious Settlement
220:Declaration of Attestation Oath
771:English Post-Reformation Oaths
743:
734:
725:
716:
640:(London, 13 August 1910), 292.
13:
1:
593:III.--Birchley (pseudonym of
460:Collection of Acts, 1640-1656
438:
350:In 1867, during the reign of
549:Lives of the English Martyrs
292:war of American Independence
7:
425:
84:quantum per legem Dei licet
10:
824:
444:For the full texts of the
379:House of Commons of Canada
214:The Test Oath (1672, 1678)
178:
46:
364:Promissory Oaths Act 1871
137:Popish Recusants Act 1592
710:
686:Lord Llandaff (Matthews)
356:Office and Oath Act 1867
234:After the conversion of
112:Second Statute of Repeal
57:Submission of the Clergy
731:Bridgett, infra 264-86.
510:Stephen and Lee (ed.),
290:. Soon after began the
18:Oath of Royal supremacy
692:Thomas Edward Bridgett
574:
529:Life of B. John Fisher
525:Thomas Edward Bridgett
310:. c. 60), also called
156:Archpriest Controversy
128:
83:
37:post-Reformation oaths
29:Protestant Reformation
776:Catholic Encyclopedia
750:William Maziere Brady
702:The Royal Declaration
599:The Catholique's Plea
582:Joseph de La Servière
450:The Statutes at Large
124:
120:Act of Supremacy 1558
63:Act of Supremacy 1534
420:English Constitution
229:Peter Valesius Walsh
808:English Reformation
434:, contemporary oath
245:In reaction to the
218:(Also known as the
31:was imposed by the
629:Titus Oates's Test
462:(London, 1657–58);
446:Acts of Parliament
347:took place later.
97:Oath of Succession
452:(London, 1762--);
368:34 & 35 Vict.
360:30 & 31 Vict.
312:Sir George Savile
267:William of Orange
114:) and revived by
69:into a decree of
53:Oath of Supremacy
49:Acts of Supremacy
16:(Redirected from
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780:
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753:
747:
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732:
729:
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653:(London, 1820);
631:(London, 1909);
625:Herbert Thurston
601:(London, 1659);
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518:Particular oaths
332:Daniel O'Connell
304:Papists Act 1778
253:On the death of
160:George Blackwell
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673:(London, 1909);
663:(London, 1909);
657:Edwin H. Burton
616:Blacklo's Cabal
608:(London, 1661);
551:(London, 1904).
531:(London, 1888)
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498:(London, 1857);
492:Thomas Flanagan
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407:King Edward VII
399:Duke of Norfolk
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27:The English
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647:John Milner
612:Robert Pugh
595:John Austin
570:Sommervogel
409:, however,
345:William III
320:John Milner
247:Popish Plot
240:Shaftesbury
224:Restoration
208:John Austin
101:Thomas More
93:Anne Boleyn
75:John Fisher
71:Convocation
787:Categories
637:The Tablet
439:References
387:Lord Braye
288:Queen Mary
284:Quebec Act
204:Innocent X
192:civil wars
108:Queen Mary
67:Henry VIII
545:Bede Camm
391:Lord Grey
383:Australia
308:18 Geo. 3
133:Recusants
116:Elizabeth
700:Gerard,
634:____ in
426:See also
278:In 1770
259:James II
767::
558:Tierney
480:Cobbett
474:Hansard
255:Charles
148:Puritan
604:____,
564:Reusch
486:Butler
401:, and
397:, the
169:Pius V
79:Warham
55:, and
803:Oaths
711:Notes
684:VI.--
236:James
645:V.--
623:IV--
556:II.-
523:I.--
448:see
328:Veto
773:".
597:).
87:.
789::
669:,
659:,
649:,
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614:,
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572:,
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537:,
527:,
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422:.
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171:.
77:,
51:,
366:(
358:(
306:(
135:(
110:(
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