Clergy Act 1640

Clergy Act 1640

Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long title	An Act for disabling all persons in Holy Orders to exercise any temporal jurisdiction or authority.
Citation	16 Cha. 1. c. 27
Territorial extent	Kingdom of England
Dates
Royal assent	14 February 1642
Commencement	15 February 1642
Repealed	30 July 1661
Other legislation
Repealed by	Clergy Act 1661
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Clergy Act 1640, also known as the Bishops Exclusion Act, or the Clerical Disabilities Act, was an Act of Parliament, effective 13 February 1642 that prevented men in holy orders from exercising any temporal jurisdiction or authority.

Prior to the Act, bishops of the Church of England sat in the House of Lords, where they comprised 22 out of a total membership of 60–70 peers. This allowed them to block legislation proposed by the Commons, which was increasingly dominated by Puritans.

"Puritan" was a term for anyone who wanted to reform, or 'purify', the Church of England, and contained many different sects, including Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. Despite differences in doctrine, they opposed bishops, on both religious and political grounds.

Support was limited even among moderates like Viscount Falkland, who wrote; "Those that hated the bishops, hated them more than the Devil; they who loved them, did not love them so well as their dinner."^[1]

In 1649, the House of Lords was abolished by the Protectorate; it was restored in 1660, but bishops were not readmitted until the Clergy Act 1661.