The Commission of Triers was a 38-member administrative commission established by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

in 1654, during the early months of the

Protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

(1653–58), to assess the suitability of future parish ministers. The triers, and a related set of "ejectors" (whose role was to dismiss ministers and schoolmasters who were deemed unsuitable for office) were intended to be at the vanguard of Cromwell's reform of

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

worship in England. The commission was established by the Triers Ordinance. A further ordinance in August 1654 known as Gillespie's Charter extended the role of the triers to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

.The Cromwell Association
The 1654 Union with Scotland
accessed 20 October 2016

References

The Protectorate Oliver Cromwell 1654 in England {{England-hist-stub