The Papists Act 1715 ( 1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 55) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act required Roman Catholics who did not take the oath of fidelity to register their property. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts. At Braemar, Aberdeenshire ...

. The Act's preamble claimed that the Act was necessary because Catholics had plotted for "the destruction of this kingdom and the extirpation of the Protestant Religion" despite the "tender regard" the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

had shown by not enforcing the many penal laws against them. It was further claimed that "all or the greatest part" of the Catholic population had been "stirring up and supporting the late unnatural Rebellion for the dethroning and murdering his most Sacred Majesty; for setting up a Popish Pretender upon the Throne of this kingdom; for the Destruction of the Protestant Religion and the cruel murdering and massacring of its Professors". Therefore, the Act continued, Catholics are "enemies to His Majesty and to the present happy Establishment" who "watch for all opportunities of fomenting and stirring up new Rebellions and Disturbances within the Kingdom and of inviting Foreigners to invade it". The Act ensured that

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 sa ...

tendered the oaths of

allegiance An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign. Etymology From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...

, supremacy and

abjuration Abjuration is the solemn repudiation, abandonment, or renunciation by or upon oath, often the renunciation of citizenship or some other right or privilege. The term comes from the Latin ''abjurare'', "to forswear". Abjuration of the realm Abju ...

to all confirmed and suspected Catholics. If any Catholic had not taken the oaths by the deadline they were required to sign a register that included information about their estates. This was intended to facilitate a discriminatory tax on Catholics because, the Act claimed, they should pay any "large share to all such Extraordinary Expenses as are and shall be brought upon this Kingdom by their Treachery and Instigation". The annual rent of the estates registered totalled £400,000.Jarvis, p. 305.

Notes

{{reflist Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1715 History of Christianity in the United Kingdom 1715 in Christianity Law about religion in the United Kingdom