the impact of the Toleration Act 1689 and the end of Anglican supremacy

what was the toleration act 1689

• the glorious revolution changed both the political and religious settlement.

• as a calvinist, William III was keen to be secure the support of all Protestants in Britain for his war against France, and was ready to extend toleration to Catholics, as was the practise in the Netherlands.

• 16th March 1689 - the King asked the Commons to abandon the religious tests which kept dissenters out of public office.

• keen to maintain the political supremacy of the CofE, the predominantly Anglican parliament passed the Toleration Act in May 1689

what did the Toleration Act do?

• most dissenters:

  • were exempted from penal laws if they took an oath of allegiance and declared against transubstantiation

  • could worship freely in licensed meeting houses which had to keep their doors open

  • could set up their own schools to educate their children.

• this h.er didn't extend to Catholics, Jews or Unitarians (asserts the unity of God and rejects the trinity)

the end of anglican supremacy?

• central division within Anglicanism was whether the Church should be broadened to encompass some dissenters or maintained as it was.

• William appointed Latitudinarians (willing to accept a broad range of Protestant opinion within the CodE) as bishops (eg. John Tillotson becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 1691)

• by 1701, the number and size of Protestant denominations had grown considerably due to the Toleration Act - there was growing religious diversity, with Catholicism remaining strong in northern counties, while dissenting congregations grew rapidly in East Anglia.

• For much of the 17th Century the CofE could claim to be the sole religious authority in England but by 1701 Anglican supremacy had come to an end.

attitudes towards the end of anglicanism?

• for tories, such churchmen were not doing enough to prevent what they feared was the rapid growth of dissent - particularly worried by the further growth of Quakerism after the Toleration Act of 1689

• the period of 1689-1701 saw a broadening of the acceptance of a range of Protestants within the CofE

• could be argued that in practical terms, acceptance came slowly, not from legislation but more from the development of other ways of thinking - in particular, the focus on science and reason marked a shift away from the dominance of religious ideas.

• while after 1689 religious diversity replaced religious uniformity, religion was still central to life and also still central in shaping political attitudes

what was the position of catholicism?

• the position of Catholics remained a source of tension - while it slowly became easier for Catholics to worship without interference, they remained a small religious minority, often subject to religious prejudice

• anti-catholicism and the equation of Catholicism with the threat of Louis XIV remained a theme in English politics through to 1701 and the Act of Settlement

what was the impact of the Bill of Rights for catholics?

• the 1689 Bill of Rights excluded Catholics from the throne by removing James II and his children from succession - it didn’t say anything about the succession after Anne, who was next in line after William and Mary.

• in 1694, Mary died without any children and William and Anne were getting older, so the prospect was raised of another claim on the throne by the children of James II.

what was the impact of the Act of Settlement for the catholics?

• as a result of the Act of Settlement:

  • 57 potential catholic heirs to the throne were excluded

  • the monarch had to be an active member of the Protestant Church of England, attending services.

  • the granddaughter of James I, the Protestant Sophia of Hanover, was made next in line to the throne.

• it was a triumph for the whigs - during the exclusion crisis (1678-81) they had tried to exclude James from the succession; after 1701 exclusion would apply to any Catholic heir to the throne