The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastical court in England, from the inception of King Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy in 1534 to 1689, with periods of time where there was no court activity, like in 1641, when Parliament disbanded the court with the Triennial Act.[1] John Whitgift, the Archbishop of Canterbury, obtained increased powers for the court by the 1580s. He proposed and had passed the Seditious Sectaries Act 1593, making Puritanism an offence.[2][3]
The court reached the height of its powers during the Reformation. It was dissolved by the Long Parliament in 1641. The court was convened at will by the sovereign, and had near unlimited power over civil as well as church matters. There were also Scottish Courts of High Commission which vied with the General Assembly and lower church courts for authority.[4] The court made a short reprise during the reign of James II in 1686, until it was disbanded for the last time by the Bill of Rights.[1]
- ^ a b Britannica, Ed. of Encyclopaedia (20 July 1998). "Court of High Commission". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
- ^ "The Act Against Puritans (1593)". History.hanover.edu. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ Long title: An Act For the preventing and avoiding of such great inconveniencies and perils as might happen and grow by the wicked and dangerous practices of seditious sectaries and disloyal persons
- ^ McMahon, George I. R. (1965). The Scottish Courts of High Commission, 1620–1638. Edinburgh: Scottish Church History Society.