England: Notable Policies and Notable Documents

Domesday Book (All Facts)

• Two-volume manuscript record and compilation of the “Great Survey” of England that took place during the reign of William the Conqueror

• It served as a wide-ranging record of social and economic life in England during the rule of William the Conqueror

• Its information was arranged geographically, by shire, hundred, and village

• Provided William the Conqueror and his successors with a quick and reliable reference system for levying military taxation

• Helped William and the Conqueror’s plan to avoid fraud by making two inspection trips to each sire and using a standard questionnaire, derived from the namesake, to establish the exact state of England’s wealth

1215 - Magna Carta (All Facts)

• Treaty signed during the reign of King John of England by himself and his nobles / barons, which

  • both guaranteed to the barons their feudal privileges and promises to maintain the nation’s laws

  • had 63 clauses

  • promised to administer an equitable legal system in which

    • nobles had the right to a jury trial before they could be sentenced to prison

    • nobles had the right to be consulted on the issue of scutage

    • everyone was entitled to the judgement of their peers

    • corruption would end

    • justice would be available to all free men

• Treaty that is sometimes called the “Great Charter of Liberties”

• Treaty that was ensured to be carried out by a committee of barons

1258 - Provisions of Oxford (All Facts)

• Passed during the reign of King Henry III of England

• Set of constitutional reforms to the government of late medieval England adopted to resolve a dispute between Henry III of England and his barons

• They instituted

  • the Parliament of England, which was to meet three times a year

  • the permanent council that would advise the king which the king had to listen to

• Were annulled by King Louis IX of France while he was arbitrating the dispute between King Henry III of England and the English barons

1275 - Statue of Jewry (All Facts)

• Passed during the reign of King Edward of England

• Law which

  • Banned Jews from practicing usury

  • Offered Jews the chance to become merchants, artisans, and even farmers

• Law which the Jews mostly refused to comply to, prompting King Edward to banish them 15 years later

1290 - Edict of Expulsion (All Facts)

• Passed during the reign of King Edward of England, it officially expelled Jews from England, banning them from living there

  • Under law, the Jews were considered the “property” of the sovereign and thereafter banished by King Edward of England

• Law which can be explained due to

  • The Jews’ refusal to comply with the Statue of Jewry of 1275

  • Increasing anti-Semitism in England up to the point of the reign of King Edward of England

  • Regular heavy taxation of the Jews severely depleted their wealth

  • King Edward’s decision that Jews were no longer wealthy enough to be worth tolerating

• Law which allowed King Edward to

  • sell off confiscated Jewish property

  • call in the debts that they were still owed in order to boost the royal coffers

1401 - Suppression of Heresy Act (All Facts)

• Act passed during the reign of King Henry IV of England

• Act which

  • Suppressed the Lollards / Lollardy Movement

  • Punished seditious heretics with burning at the stake

  • Was one of the strictest religious censorship statues ever enacted in England

1533 - Submission of the Clergy Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament during the English Reformation under King Henry VIII, it

  • made it so that the English clergy had to seek royal consent before making any decisions

1534 - Supremacy Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament during the English Reformation under King Henry VIII, it

  • separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church

  • declared the King of England to be the supreme head of the Church of England, with full powers to deal with heresies, errors, and abuses

  • had the Archbishop of Canterbury replace the Pope in terms of being able to provide any and all dispensations the pope would have originally made

  • made it so that no more taxes were to be paid to Rome

  • amended laws against heresy to allow for criticism of the Roman Catholic Church

1534 - Succession Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament during the English Reformation under King Henry VIII, it

  • vested the succession in the children of Anne Boleyn, that is, it commanded allegiance to Anne and her issue

  • prescribed severe penalties under the charge of high treason for anyone who opposed or criticized Henry VII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn or challenged his claim to the throne

  • gave the king powers to demand an oath of allegiance to the act’s provisions

1535 - Suppression of Religious Houses Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament during the English Reformation under King Henry VIII, it initiated the Dissolution of the Monasteries, thus making it legal for Henry VIII and his administration, via Thomas Cromwell’s commission, to have

  • disbanded all Catholic monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland

  • seized their wealth

  • redistributed their wealth to the Crown of England and to fund King Henry VIII’s military campaigns

  • disposed of their assets

  • destroyed buildings and relics

  • dispersed or destroyed libraries

  • provided for their former personnel and functions

    • former abbots, monks, and nuns were given pensions; however clerical unemployment rose significantly during this movement

  • turned many of the nearly 800 church properties sold into private homes for the Gentry class

  • ceased the Church’s system of distributing alms

1537 - Bishop’s Book (All Facts)

• Book which defended Catholic orthodoxy against Protestant innovation

1539 - Six Articles (All Facts)

• Issued by King Henry VIII of England, they were a repressive decree of Catholic orthodoxy and were repealed a few years after they were issued

1543 - King’s Book (All Facts)

• Revised the previous “Bishop’s Book", it confirmed Protestant statues passed in Parliament but maintained key elements of Catholic doctrine, such as the validity of monastic vows

• It effectively outlaws any further theological reform to the Church of England

1544 - Third Succession Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under King Henry VIII, it

  • recognized Mary and Elizabeth, the daughters of King Henry VIII, as heirs to the throne of England in the event that King Henry VIII’s son Edward dies childless

  • restored Mary and Elizabeth’s legitimacy to the Tudor line

  • worked to prevent the succession issues that plagued King Henry VIII’s reign

1549 - Act of Uniformity (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under King Edward VI, it

  • enforced the use of the Book of Common Prayer, the moderate Protestant Prayer Book

1552 - Act of Uniformity (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under King Edward VI, it

  • enforced the use of a revised edition of the Book of Common Prayer, which was more explicitly Protestant compared to the original edition

1553 - 42 Articles (All Facts)

• Official doctrinal statement of the Church of England issued by Thomas Cramner under the reign of King Edward VI

  • Cramner had help from a committee of six to draft the namesake, which supplemented the new Protestant prayer book

1558 - First Parliament of Queen Elizabeth (All Facts)

• Parliament which assembled

  • after the namesake Queen’s accession to the throne

  • in the wake of anti-Roman demonstration in London

  • in the wake of a Twelfth Night Court Masque, where asses were dressed as bishops

• When the bishops rejected William Cecil’s settlement, they were sacked

• Parliament which allowed previously married clergy to return to their positions

1559 - Act of Supremacy (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under Queen Elizabeth, it

  • Repealed and reversed all of the pro-Catholic policies and developments of her predecessor

  • Defined the monarch as the supreme governor of the Church of England (NOT supreme head)

  • Provided for a high commission for the correction of errors and abuses to be set up

1563 - 39 Articles (All Facts)

• Official doctrinal statement of the Church of England issued under the reign of Queen Elizabeth

1563 - Statute of Artificers (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under Queen Elizabeth, it

  • regulated trade and employment contracts

  • conferred on justices of the peace the task of fixing wages in their country

1584 - Jesuits, etc. Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under Queen Elizabeth, it

  • commanded all Roman Catholic priests to leave the country within 40 days of its passing or they would be punished for high treason, unless within the 40 days, they swore an oath to obey the Queen

  • fined, imprisoned, and/or executed all those who harbored them or knew of their presence and failed to inform the authorities

  • banned seminaries

1592 - Religion / Seditious Sectaries Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under Queen Elizabeth, it

  • imprisoned and/or fined Protestant Separatists (Puritans) who established self-governing congregations or attended religious meetings outside the Church of England

1597 - Vagabonds Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under Queen Elizabeth, it

  • allowed sentences of transportation to the colonies for convicted criminals

1601 - Poor Relief Act / Elizabethan Poor Law (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under Queen Elizabeth, it

  • oversaw the best welfare system in Europe at the time

  • made help for the poor a national responsibility, supervised by the Privy Council but administrated locally by justices of the peace

  • provided help for the poor, funded by the levying of taxes on better-off households

  • required justices of the peace to obtain stocks of flax, hemp, wool, thread, and other items in order to keep the unemployed usefully occupied

  • provided for the whipping of vagrants and beggars, who were to be returned to their home villages by the parish constable; due to claims that the many poor do not want to work or are lazy

  • provided for houses of correction which awaited anyone who refused to work

  • was passed out of fears of widespread unrest forming due to population growth, economic recession, and consequent poverty

  • compensated English peasants for the lack of funds they received after the “Dissolution of the Monasteries” under King Henry VIII

1603 - Union of England and Scotland Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under Queen Elizabeth, it

  • (temporarily) united the crowns of England and Scotland upon the death of Queen Elizabeth

  • did not last truly until the Union Act of 1707

1603 - Millenary Petition (All Facts)

• Document that consisted of a list of requests given to King James of England by Henry Jacob and Puritans when the King was travelling to London in order to claim the English throne

• Document which was a moderate plea for church reform, calling for

  • the abandonment of “popish religious ceremonies,” such as

    • the use of the ring in marriage

    • making the sign of the cross at baptism

• Document which

  • was carefully worded and expressed Puritan distaste regarding the state of the Church of England

  • took into consideration James' religious views as well as his liking for a debate

  • claimed to have 1,000 signatures prior to its signing, hence the namesake

• Document which culminated in the Hampton Court Conference between King James of England and Henry Jacob and the Puritans

1609 - Second Virginia Charter (All Facts)

• Charter granted by King James, it

  • provided the American province of Virginia with extended territory “from sea to sea”

1610 - Laws Divine Moral and Martial (All Facts)

• Instituted under Thomas Dale, it

  • is also known as Dale’s Code, which was the name of another set of laws passed shortly after the namesake which codified all of the harsh laws that Thomas Dale and others had passed in the colony of Jamestown / Virginia

  • was a strict and harsh civil code for the colony of Jamestown / Virginia

1620 - Mayflower Compact (All Facts)

• Social contract designed by the Puritan leaders of the namesake ship and expedition to North America, designed to bolster unity and meant to placate settlers angered by their arrival on land which had not been granted to them by charter

• Social contract which established a civil body politic for the new colony that set up “just and equal laws” based on church covenants

1628 - Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company (All Facts)

• Charter granted by King Charles which established the namesake joint-stock company venture to promote trade and colonization in North America

1628 - Petition of Right (All Facts)

• Constitutional Document of England’s Parliament drawn up in response to King Charles’ recall of Parliament for funds after previously trying to govern without them, it forbade

  • taxation without consent of Parliament

  • arbitrary imprisonment

  • and the martial law and compulsory billeting of troops in private homes

• Constitutional Document which, once accepted by King Charles, encouraged Parliament, albeit begrudgingly, to provide King Charles with funds; however, they never did so

1640 - Triennial Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under King Charles, it

  • forced Parliament to meet at least once every three years

1640 - Parliament Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under King Charles, it

  • made it illegal for Parliament to be dissolved without its members’ consent

1641 - Grand Remonstrance (All Facts)

• List of grievances presented by England’s Parliament to King Charles and passed by the House of Commons during the Long Parliament, it detailed the MPs’ position in the struggle against King Charles’ authoritarian rule and precipitated the English Civil War

• List of grievances which intended to decrease King Charles’ powers and increase the powers of the House of Commons

• After its issuance, there was an interregnum of Parliament known as the “Long Parliament” which did not actually pass official policy again until 20 years after the namesake’s issuance

1643 - Solemn League and Covenant (All Facts)

• Agreement between the leaders of the Scottish Covenanters and English Roundheads (Parliamentarians) during the First English Civil War

• It

  • was a national oath by both England and Scotland to increase the pace of religious reform

  • guaranteed Scottish support of the Roundhead (Parliamentarian) cause of the English Civil War in England

• The Scottish Covenanters saw it was a way to

  • impose Presbyterianism in England and Ireland

  • preserve the constitutional liberties won by both England and Scotland’s Parliaments

1649 - An Act Declaring and Constituting the People of England to be a Commonwealth and Free-State (All Facts)

• Issued by the “Rump Parliament” under Oliver Cromwell, it

  • effectively established the Republic that was the “Commonwealth of England”

1651 - Navigation Act (All Facts)

• Passed by the “Rump Parliament” and Council of State under Oliver Cromwell, it

  • favored English shipping in an attempt to break the Dutch hold on the carrying trade

  • made it so that all goods imported to England must be carried in ships owned by Englishmen or colonials, with crews that are at least half composed of Englishmen

  • made it so that goods from Asia, Africa, and America could only be imported into England by English ships and prohibited the importation of goods into England from other countries

  • was specifically designed to hamper the booming Dutch sea trade in favor of the English; and it thus worsened relations between England and the Netherlands since it challenged Dutch mercantile supremacy; and thus precipitated the First Anglo-Dutch War

    • was thus interpreted by the Netherlands as a thinly-disguised attack on Amsterdam’s status as Europe’s leading port and power at sea

  • was designed by the Council of State in order to improve the English economy, which was severely depressed in the prior decade due to plague, harvest failures, and war

  • caused the governor of Barbados, an English colony at the time, to complain of shortages to the English crown

  • maintained itself and was retained by England even after the signing of the Treaty of Westminster that ended the First Anglo-Dutch War, allowing England to assert its supremacy over the seas over the Netherlands

1652 - Act for the Settlement of Ireland (All Facts)

• Issued by the “Long Parliament” under the Protectorate of England under Oliver Cromwell, it

  • provided confiscated Irish lands to Cromwell’s soldiers to repay them for their efforts of service under him during the English Civil War

  • made it so that those Irish who

    • fought against the English lost 2/3 of their property

    • did not fight against the English but failed to show proper regard for them lost 1/3 of their property

  • ordered Irish landlords to remove themselves to remote parts of western Ireland

1653 - Instrument of Government (All Facts)

• First constitution of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland

• First codified and written constitution in England

• It was drafted by John Lambert and officers of Oliver Cromwell, it provided for

  • The Lord Protector and Protectorate of England (Cromwell)

  • Council of State

  • Elected Parliament (House of Commons)

1657 - Humble Petition and Advice (All Facts)

• Constitution drafted by the “Long Parliament” under Oliver Cromwell

• It offered the title of King to Oliver Cromwell, but he refused it

1660 - Navigation Act (All Facts)

• Passed by Parliament under King Charles II, it

  • strengthened the previous act of the same name

  • required that certain colonial goods be shipped only to England

• While it was intended to be directed against the Netherlands, it inevitably limited colonial trading outlets as well and was resented by colonial American settlers at the time struggling to establish their communities