353:
34:
247:
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was known. Kenyon suggests that the
Government at this point simply had no idea what to do next. In the event, the reprieve for priests condemned after that date became permanent. This however was too late to save those already condemned, and over the summer of 1679, despite mounting public unease, at least fourteen priests were executed or died in prison. Persecution continued to wane in 1680: at least ten more priests were prosecuted under the statute of 1584, but it seems that all of them were acquitted or reprieved.
507:
198:
168:. Failure to do so was treason. Any person who did take the oath was forbidden from coming within 10 miles of the Queen for 10 years unless they had her personal written permission. Again, failure to observe this requirement was treason. Priests already within England had 40 days to depart, although this was by grace, not a right, and could be withdrawn, as it was for example during the Popish Plot.
376:, under the tolerant rule of a monarch who was himself inclined to the Catholic religion, the Government was content to periodically issue orders for all priests to leave England, without any expectation that the orders would be complied with. The statute of 1584 was regarded as effectively a dead letter, until the outbreak of the
442:
Anti-Catholic sentiment gradually died away, more speedily in the provinces where many of the priests who died were venerable and respected local figures. In June 1679 the King issued an order that all priests condemned under the statute of 1584 after 4 June should be reprieved until his further will
540:
In 2008 the Oxford
Consistory Court (presided over by the same judge) declined to follow that case as a precedent, on the grounds that "that decision had failed to take account of the commemoration of English saints and martyrs of the Reformation era in the Church of England's calendar of festivals.
535:
in the absence of a posthumous pardon the court could not properly sanction a memorial to a person lawfully convicted of high treason; and that, accordingly, since no question had been raised as to the legal propriety either of the priest's conviction as a traitor or his execution and there had been
426:
were among those who successfully pleaded that they had taken the Oath. During the Plot pleas for clemency were generally rejected out of hand, but in a few cases, such as David Kemiss and
William Atkins, the accused was spared the death penalty on the grounds of extreme old age. Even the vehemently
438:
No serious effort was made to revive prosecutions of the laity for harbouring priests. The
Government did issue two proclamations reminding the public that this was a felony which in theory rendered them liable to the death penalty, but no action was taken against those laymen, like Thomas Gunter,
185:
priests would be an adequate solution to the
Catholic problem (this was certainly to be King James I's view later): if so they quickly decided that harsher measures were necessary. About 200 English Catholics perished between 1584 and 1603, of whom the great majority were priests, despite the
302:, the dominant figure in the English government from 1603 to 1612, detested the Jesuits, but admitted that he had qualms about enforcing the statute of 1584 against other priests, most of whom he thought were loyal enough at heart. King James shared these scruples, saying that he thought
385:
of 20 November 1678 all priests were to be arrested. They were to be denied the usual 40 days of grace to leave the country: instead, they were to be held in prison "in order to their trial". As J.P. Kenyon remarks, these five simple words launched a vicious
531:(planning permission) to display a memorial plaque on the church door, in memory of the dead priest. Even though the 1584 Act had been repealed long ago, the priest's conviction had not been quashed, and so the court could not permit it:
474:
There is little evidence that the 1698 Act was enforced strictly. Kenyon suggests that the obvious decline in numbers of the
English Catholic community in the eighteenth century was due to financial penalties, such as the double
393:
In theory, Scots and Irish priests were exempt from the statute, if they could show that their presence in
England was temporary. Even during the Popish Plot, a number of priests were acquitted on that ground, although the Irish
380:
in the autumn of 1678 led to its unexpected revival. Despite the King's known
Catholic sympathies, the public atmosphere of hysteria was such that he had no choice but to revert to strict enforcement of the Penal Laws. Under a
398:
Father
Charles Mahoney was executed in 1679, despite his plea that at the time of his arrest, he was passing through England on his way to France. An Irish priest might also be able to plead that he had signed the
231:(being pressed to death). Such severity towards a lay person, especially a woman, was unusual. For example, there is no record of any legal proceedings being taken against Anne, Lady Arundell, widow of Sir
495:
of 1780, in which hundreds of people died. This reaction may have delayed further relief measures, but by 1791 the
Government felt it safe to finally legalise the Catholic priesthood. Under the
390:
against the Catholic priesthood which continued for the next two years. Priests who had been working undisturbed in England for decades suddenly found themselves facing the death penalty.
250:
Sir John Arundell of Lanherne: he and his wife, Lady Anne Stanley, were the patrons of the Catholic martyr John Cornelius, whom they harboured in their house in breach of the 1584 Act
186:
Government's protests that no one was being persecuted solely on account of their religion. The justification for rigorous enforcement of the statute was that during the war with
908:
92:
467:. This sought to strengthen the statute of 1584 by providing that anyone who apprehended a Catholic priest should receive a reward of £100: in effect, this was a
541:
As such a commemoration was permitted in an authorised service, it would have been inconsistent not to permit commemoration of similar persons by a memorial."
360:
No priests were executed in the period 1618–1625, only one was executed in the period 1625–1640, and after a brief revival of stringent persecution during the
149:
to obey the Queen. Those who harboured them, and all those who knew of their presence and failed to inform the authorities, would be fined and imprisoned for
294:, the King by his own admission was opposed to the execution of priests. There was a brief revival of anti-Catholic sentiment caused by the discovery of the
279:
removed one obvious justification for persecution, as it could no longer be argued that English Catholics were potential agents for a hostile foreign power.
499:
the Elizabethan Laws were repealed, and it became lawful, although under strictly controlled conditions, to act as a priest in England and to celebrate
471:
for catching priests. The severity of this provision was mitigated by Section III, commuting the death sentence for priests to perpetual imprisonment.
164:) had to return to England within six months, and then within two days of arriving swear to submit to the Queen and also take the oath required by the
181:
The Act was enforced with great severity in the last decades of Elizabeth's reign. It may be that at first, the English Government believed that
194:
in 1588 did not, as might have been expected, lead to the relaxation of the persecution, as the war with Spain dragged on into the next reign.
519:
The execution of a Catholic priest under the Act in 1594 became the subject of a court case 401 years later. In 1995 a church applied to the
329:'s time, and would keep one now". This tolerant attitude made it impossible to enforce the Penal Laws against the upper classes: in 1613 the
290:, which strengthened the statute of 1584, and as a result, a number of priests were put to death, of whom probably the best known is Father
435:
approved of the Crown showing mercy in such cases, in order "that the world may not say that we are grown barbarous and inhumane".
338:
232:
56:
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299:
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Trial of Lionel Anderson, James Corker, William Marshal, William Russel, Henry Starky, Charles Parry, Alexander Lunsden.
190:, the loyalty of all English Catholics, and especially priests, must be regarded as suspect. However, the defeat of the
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550:
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Prosecutions of members of the Catholic laity for harbouring priests ceased after about 1616. Protestant sheriffs and
410:
Although it was not technically a defence under the statute of 1584, a priest who could prove that he had taken the
356:
Gunter Mansion, Abergavenny, where Catholic priests were sheltered for generations, in defiance of the 1584 statute
225:(probably to shield her children from being interrogated or tortured), and was executed by the gruesome process of
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Gervaise Pierrepont, Sir John Southcote and Sir James Poole, 1st Baronet, in whose houses priests were arrested.
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were notably unwilling to enforce the law against their Catholic neighbours, even in such blatant cases as the
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no pardon, the faculty sought could not be granted, notwithstanding the subsequent repeal of the Act of 1584.
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407:. These priests, known as the Remonstrants, were left in peace even at the height of the Plot hysteria.
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455:, all persecution of Catholics ceased early in 1685. A revival of anti-Catholic feeling after the
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The "bounty" provisions of the 1698 Act were repealed by the first Catholic relief measure, the
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153:, or if the authorities wished to make an example of them, they might be executed for treason.
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491:. However, the 1778 Act produced a revival of anti-Catholic feelings which erupted in the
243:, who was executed in 1594: Lady Arundell retrieved his body to give him a proper burial.
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An act against Jesuits, seminary priests, and such other like disobedient persons.
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An act against Jesuits, seminary priests, and such other like disobedient persons
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who suffered under the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584, probably the best known is
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of 1671, by which he gave his primary allegiance to the King, not the
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to leave the country within 40 days or they would be punished for
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imposed on Catholics in 1692, rather than to overt persecution.
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in 1605, but it seems to have largely died away by 1612.
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remarked casually that due to their high regard for Sir
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overseas (i.e. if they were educated abroad in a Jesuit
592:(6th ed.). New York: Macmillan. pp. 638–639.
217:. Charged in 1586 with harbouring priests, (among them
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against him and numerous other members of his family.
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felt it politically prudent to give his assent to the
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Acts of the Parliament of England concerning religion
364:, only two more were executed between 1646 and 1660.
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A student's manual of English constitutional history
263:
in 1603 the statute gradually fell into disuse. The
830:Cambridge University Press 2nd Edition 1985 p.379
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638:(693). London su.a.]: Longmans, Green: 236–245.
510:The Gordon Riots 1780, painting by Charles Green
459:of 1688 caused the Government to pass one final
267:which succeeded her was in general disposed to
698:The Gunpowder Plot- Terror and Faith in 1605
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414:to the Crown was unofficially entitled to a
345:), they had repeatedly dismissed charges of
239:, for harbouring the Catholic martyr Father
145:, unless within the 40 days, they swore an
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700:Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1997 pp.29-30
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300:Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
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561:Safety of the Queen, etc. Act 1584
551:High treason in the United Kingdom
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107:Revised text of statute as amended
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895:. (t16800117-1, 17 January 1680).
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861:In re St Mary the Virgin, Oxford
676:Pelican Books edition 1960 p.271
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736:Phoenix Press reissue 2000 p.30
451:Under the openly Catholic King
156:Anyone who was brought up as a
851:(1995) 3 WLR 253; 4 All ER 103
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703:
688:
679:
666:
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497:Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791
221:) she refused to plead to her
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891: (accessed 2019-01-24),
889:Old Bailey Proceedings Online
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626:Pollen, J. H. (March 1922).
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929:Anti-Catholicism in England
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586:Medley, Dudley J. (1925).
18:United Kingdom legislation
483:The end of the Penal Laws
374:Restoration of Charles II
306:a sufficient punishment.
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275:of 1604 which ended the
137:. The Act commanded all
93:Roman Catholics Act 1844
828:The Stuart Constitution
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172:Enforcement of the Act
139:Roman Catholic priests
119:Jesuits, etc. Act 1584
22:Jesuits, etc. Act 1584
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331:justices of the peace
311:justices of the peace
288:Jesuits etc. Act 1603
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166:Act of Supremacy 1558
131:Parliament of England
39:Parliament of England
769:Kenyon 2000 pp.203-5
269:religious toleration
117:, also known as the
748:Kenyon 2000 pp.6-7
567:Penal law (British)
457:Glorious Revolution
259:After the death of
228:peine forte et dure
135:English Reformation
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924:Treason in England
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429:Lord Chief Justice
412:Oath of Allegiance
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211:Margaret Clitherow
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201:Margaret Clitherow
133:passed during the
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863:(2009) 2 WLR 1381
814:Kenyon 2000 p.223
805:Kenyon 2000 p.190
796:Kenyon 2000 p.255
787:Kenyon 2000 p.220
778:Kenyon 2000 p.264
757:Kenyon 2000 p.121
674:Queen Elizabeth I
663:Kenyon 2000 p.121
598:2027/uc1.$ b22458
563:(27 Eliz.1, c. 1)
556:Religion Act 1580
418:: Charles Carne,
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277:Anglo-Spanish War
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709:Fraser p.21
378:Popish Plot
323:Abergavenny
261:Elizabeth I
88:Repealed by
903:Categories
649:22 October
611:22 October
573:References
396:Franciscan
304:banishment
292:John Sugar
271:, and the
223:indictment
123:27 Eliz. 1
62:27 Eliz. 1
47:Long title
644:0027-0172
632:The Month
606:612680148
461:Penal Law
347:recusancy
282:Although
183:deporting
545:See also
477:land tax
453:James II
416:reprieve
237:Lanherne
162:seminary
74:Repealed
57:Citation
732:Kenyon
529:faculty
284:James I
205:Of the
129:of the
873:Lawtel
642:
604:
527:for a
525:Durham
469:bounty
463:, the
388:pogrom
158:Jesuit
151:felony
64:. c. 2
315:Welsh
207:laity
188:Spain
69:Dates
651:2014
640:ISSN
613:2014
602:OCLC
501:Mass
431:Sir
422:and
405:Pope
215:York
147:oath
636:139
594:hdl
523:in
333:of
235:of
213:of
127:Act
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596::
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