The Great Ejection followed the Act of Uniformity 1662 in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Several thousand

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

ministers were forced out of their positions in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, following

The Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of Charles II. It was a consequence (not necessarily intended) of the

Savoy Conference The Savoy Conference of 1661 was a significant liturgical discussion that took place, after the Restoration of Charles II, in an attempt to effect a reconciliation within the Church of England. Proceedings It was convened by Gilbert Sheldo ...

of 1661.

History

The Act of Uniformity prescribed that any minister who refused to conform to the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' by

St Bartholomew's Day Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

(24 August) 1662 should be ejected from the Church of England. This date became known as 'Black Bartholomew's Day' among

Dissenters A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, an ...

, a reference to the fact that it occurred on the same day as the St Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572.

Oliver Heywood Oliver Heywood (9 September 1825 – 1892) was an English banker and philanthropist. Born in Irlam O'Th' Height, Lancashire, the son of Benjamin Heywood, and educated at Eton College, Heywood joined the family business, Heywood's Bank in ...

estimated the number of ministers ejected at 2,500. This group included

Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...

Edmund Calamy the Elder Edmund Calamy (February 160029 October 1666) was an English Presbyterian church leader and divine. Known as "the elder", he was the first of four generations of nonconformist ministers bearing the same name. Early life The Calamy family claimed ...

Simeon Ashe Simeon Ashe or Ash (died 1662) was an English nonconformist clergyman, a member of the Westminster Assembly and chaplain to the Parliamentary leader Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester. Life He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He b ...

, Thomas Case,

John Flavel John Flavel (c. 1627–1691) was an English Puritan Presbyterian minister and author. Life Flavel, the eldest son of the Rev. Richard Flavel, described as 'a painful and eminent minister,' who was incumbent successively of Bromsgrove, Worceste ...

William Jenkyn William Jenkyn (1613–1685) was an English clergyman, imprisoned during the Interregnum for his part in the 'Presbyterian plot' of Christopher Love, ejected minister in 1662, and imprisoned at the end of his life for nonconformity. Life Jenkyn w ...

Joseph Caryl Joseph Caryl (November 1602 – 25 February 1673) was an English ejected minister. Life He was born in London, educated at Merchant Taylors' School, and graduated at Exeter College, Oxford, and became preacher at Lincoln's Inn. He frequently p ...

, Benjamin Needler,

Thomas Brooks Thomas, Thom, Tom, or Tommy Brooks may refer to: Politics and religion * Thomas Brooks (Puritan) (1608–1680), Puritan minister and author * Thomas Brooks, American minister after whom Brookfield, Connecticut, was named * Thomas Brooks, 1st Ba ...

Thomas Manton Thomas Manton (1620–1677) was an English Puritan clergyman. He was a clerk to the Westminster Assembly and a chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. Early life Thomas Manton was baptised 31 March 1620 at Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, a remote sou ...

, William Sclater,

Thomas Doolittle Thomas Doolittle (1632?–1707) was an English nonconformist minister, tutor and author. Early life Doolittle was the third son of Anthony Doolittle, a glover, and was born at Kidderminster in 1632 or the latter half of 1631. While at the gramma ...

and Thomas Watson. Biographical details of ejected ministers and their fates were later collected by the historian Edmund Calamy, grandson of the elder Calamy. Although there had already been ministers outside the established church, the Great Ejection created an abiding concept of non-conformity. Strict religious tests of the

Clarendon Code In English history, the penal laws were a series of laws that sought to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism and Protestant nonconformists by imposing various forfeitures, civil penalties, and civil disabilities ...

and other Penal Laws left a substantial section of English society excluded from public affairs, and also university degrees, for a century and a half. Culturally, in England and Wales,

nonconformism Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

endured longer than that.

Historiography

The bicentennial in 1862 led to a sharp debate, with the nonconformist agenda being questioned, and the account in Calamy being reviewed. Iain Murray argues that the issue was deeper than "phrases in the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

and forms of church order," but regarded the "nature of true Christianity."

Legacy

The Bishop of Liverpool, J. C. Ryle (1816–1900), referred to the Ejection as an "injury to the cause of true religion in England which will probably never be repaired". A Service of Reconciliation was held at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

on 7 February 2012 to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Ejection.

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

, then Archbishop of Canterbury, preached at the service which was attended by clergy and laity of the Church of England and the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

History

Historiography

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading