A Conventicle Preacher before the Justices

The Conventicle Act 1664 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 advise ...

(16 Charles II c. 4) that forbade

conventicle A conventicle originally signified no more than an assembly, and was frequently used by ancient writers for a church. At a semantic level ''conventicle'' is only a good Latinized synonym of the Greek word church, and points to Jesus' promise in M ...

s, defined as religious assemblies of more than five people other than an immediate family, outside the auspices of 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 Brit ...

and the rubrics of the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer''. This law was a part of the Clarendon Code, named after

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674), was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II fr ...

, which aimed to discourage

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 ** ...

and to strengthen the position of the

Established Church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...

but the Clarendon Code was not actually the work of Clarendon himself, who favoured a policy of greater tolerance towards dissenters. These prohibitions led many, such as the

Covenanter Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from '' Covena ...

s, to vacate their parishes rather than submit to the new Episcopal authorities. Just as the ministers left so too did the congregations, following their old pastors to sermons on the hillside. From small beginnings these field assemblies—or conventicles—were to grow into major problems of public order for the government. The operation of the Clarendon Code at least as far as

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

were concerned was mitigated somewhat by Charles II's

Royal Declaration of Indulgence The Royal Declaration of Indulgence was Charles II of England's attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms, by suspending the execution of the Penal Laws that punished recusants from the ...

in 1672, which suspended the execution of the Penal Laws and allowed a certain number of non-conformist

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

s to be staffed and constructed, with the pastors subject to royal approval. The Conventicle Act was formally repealed in 1689, although its authority had lapsed, by default, in 1667.

Provisions

Firstly, the Act confirmed that the Religion Act (St. 16 Eliz. cap. 1), was still in force. Secondly, it declared that if any person aged sixteen or over after the 1 July 1664 is present at any religious meeting other than of the Church of England where there are five persons or more assembled together (other than those of the same household), then they would be tried by two

justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sam ...

or one

chief magistrate Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admini ...

, without a jury. If found guilty, the penalties were as follows: *first offence: imprisonment for up to three months without bail, or a five pounds fine (to be paid to the poor of the convicted person's parish). *second offence: imprisonment for up to six months without bail, or a ten pounds fine (to be disposed of as above). *third offence: transportation for seven years, or a one hundred pounds fine. Subsequent sections of the Act allowed for the breaking up of such meetings, if a warrant had been issued, and the arresting of the convenor of the meeting, and the owner of the venue, who were subject to the same penalties as above, if found guilty. There were penalties for officials not carrying out court orders. The prosecution had to occur within three months of the act, and no other prosecution could be brought for the offence. A special clause applied to

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

who refused to swear an oath in court without due reason. They were immediately declared guilty and sentenced to transportation. Minor variations in procedure and penalties were also made for peers of the realm. The Act was to remain in force for three years.

Jewish reaction

Although aimed at Nonconformists, when the Conventicle Act was passed, the Jews, led by their new rabbi

Jacob Sasportas Jacob ben Aaron Sasportas (1610 – April 15, 1698), was a Rabbi, Kabbalist, and anti-Sabbatean. He was the father of Isaac ben Jacob Sasportas. Sasportas was born at Oran. He became rabbi successively of Tlemcen (at the age of twenty-four) ...

, took their anxieties to Charles II, who told them, "laughing and spitting", not to worry; later the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

put it in writing that Jews could "promise themselves the effects of the same favour as formerly they have had, so long as they demean themselves peaceably and quietly, with due obedience to His Majesty's laws and without scandal to his government". Thus the

English Jews The history of the Jews in England goes back to the reign of William the Conqueror. Although it is likely that there had been some Jewish presence in the Roman period, there is no definitive evidence, and no reason to suppose that there was an ...

, by an act of omission, as it were, became subjects, under no more disabilities than those inherent in their own unwillingness, like Catholics and Nonconformists, to belong to the Church of England or, in their particular case, to swear Christian oaths. Paul Johnson, ''A History of the Jews'', p. 278

References

Charles II, 1664: An Act to prevent and suppresse seditious Conventicles
, ''The Statutes of the Realm'': volume 5: 1628–80 (1819), pp. 516–20. Date accessed: 5 March 2007. {{UK legislation Acts of the Parliament of England concerning religion 1664 in law English Reformation Persecution of Protestants Persecution of the Covenanters Christianity and law in the 17th century 1664 in England 1664 in Christianity 17th-century Judaism Religious persecution Jewish English history

Provisions

Jewish reaction

See also

References