Test Act

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Test Act

The Test Acts were a series of English

England

Penal law

In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to Civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs....
s that served as a religious test

Religious test

The Test Act of 1673 in England obligated all persons filling any office, civil or military, to take oaths of supremacy and allegiance, to subscribe to a declaration against transubstantiation, and to receive the sacrament within three months of taking office....
for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. The principle that none but persons professing the Established Church

Established Church

An established church is a Church body officially sanctioned and supported by the government of a country, e.g. the Church of England and the Church of Scotland in the United Kingdom....
were eligible for public employment and the severe penalties pronounced against recusants, whether Roman Catholic or Nonconformist, were affirmations of this principle.

The Act of James I

James I of England

James VI and I was List of monarchs of Scotland as James VI, and List of English monarchs and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Kingdom of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary I of Scotland....
provided that all such as were naturalized or restored in blood should receive the sacrament

Sacrament

A sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is "a rite in which God is uniquely active." Augustine of Hippo defined a Christian sacrament as "a visible sign of an invisible reality." The Anglican Book of Common Prayer speaks of them as "an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace." Examples of sacram...
of the Lord's Supper

Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
.

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Encyclopedia

The Test Acts were a series of English

England

Penal law

Religious test

Established Church

James I of England

Sacrament

Eucharist

Charles II of England

Charles II was the Monarchy of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland.His father Charles I of England Regicide#The regicide of Charles I of England at Palace of Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War....
that actually receiving of the communion of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
was made a precondition for holding public office. The earliest imposition of this test was by the Corporation Act of 1661 requiring that, besides taking the Oath of Supremacy

Oath of Supremacy

The Oath of Supremacy, imposed by the Act of Supremacy 1559, provided for any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England of the Church of England....
, all members of corporations were within one year after election to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England.

1673 Act

This act was followed by the Test Act of 1673 (25 Car. II. c. 2) (the long title

Long title

The long title is one of the parts, together with the short title, and the operative provisions , which comprise an Act of Parliament or Bill in the United Kingdom and other countries with Westminster-based political systems....
of which is "An act for preventing dangers which may happen from popish recusants"). This act enforced upon all persons filling any office, civil or military, the obligation of taking the oaths of supremacy and allegiance and subscribing to a declaration against transubstantiation

Transubstantiation

In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation is the change of the Substance theory of Host and Sacramental wine into the Body of Christ and Blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist while all that is accessible to the senses remain as before....
and also of receiving the sacrament within three months after admittance to office. The oath for the Test Act of 1672 was:

"I, N, do declare that I do believe that there is not any transubstantiation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or in the elements of the bread and wine, at or after the consecration
Consecration

Consecration is the ritual dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred"....
thereof by any person whatsoever."

1678 Act

The act did not extend to peers; but in 1678 the act was extended by a further act (30 Car. II. st. 2) which required that all peers and members of the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the British monarchy and the House of Lords ....
should make a declaration against transubstantiation, invocation of saints, and the sacrifice of the mass.

Repeal

The necessity of receiving the sacrament as a qualification for office was abolished by George IV

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the king of Kingdom of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III of the United Kingdom, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later....
and all acts requiring the taking of oaths and declarations against transubstantiation etc. were repealed by the Catholic Relief Act 1829

Catholic Relief Act 1829

The Catholic Relief Act 1829 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 24 March 1829, and received the Royal Assent on 13 April. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation in the United Kingdom, and in Ireland it repealed the last of the Penal Laws ....
.

External links

: the minutes of two committees for the repeal of the Act. First published by the London Record Society, available as part of British History Online.