Disabilities were legal restrictions and limitations placed on the Roman Catholics of England since the issuance of the
Act of Supremacy
The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the En ...
in 1534. These disabilities were first sanctioned by the
Penal Laws, enacted under the reigns of
Henry VIII and
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
. They were followed by 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 ...
(1661–65) and the
Test Act
The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in ...
(1673).
In spite of the promulgation of the
Toleration Act (1689), that removed many
civil disabilities, the Catholics still had to face limitations in respect of property rights, succession rights and education. Catholics also still had no right to assemble and pray. The
oath of abjuration required, swearing against the legitimacy of the
Jacobite succession
The Jacobite succession is the line through which Jacobites believed that the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland should have descended, applying primogeniture, since the deposition of James II and VII in 1688 and his death in 1701. It is ...
, was also counted as a disability, and remained in place until 1829.
See also
*
Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
Notes
Anti-Catholicism in England
Catholic Church in England
1534 establishments in England
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Religious discrimination in the United Kingdom