The Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy Act 1688 ( 1 Will. & Mar. c. 8) was an Act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

passed in the aftermath of the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

. The Act required all office-holders, Members of Parliament and clergy to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy for the new monarchs,

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...

. The

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

William Sancroft William Sancroft (30 January 161724 November 1693) was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II, over his opposition to the king's Declaration of Indulge ...

, five bishops and approximately four hundred lower clergy refused to take the oaths because they believed their oaths to James II were still valid. The Act thus triggered the

nonjuring schism The Nonjuring schism refers to a split in the State religion, established churches of England, Scotland and Ireland, following the deposition and exile of James II of England, James II and VII in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. As a condition of o ...

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 Britain ...

. The non-jurors were deprived of their offices.E. Neville Williams, ''The Eighteenth-Century Constitution. 1688-1815. Documents and Commentary'' (Cambridge University Press, 1960), p. 7.

Notes

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External links

* Text of the Act (British History online

Notes

External links

See also