| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to prevent and suppresse seditious Conventicles. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 16 Cha. 2. c. 4 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 May 1664 |
| Commencement | 16 March 1664 |
| Expired | 19 December 1667 |
| Repealed | 28 July 1863 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Statute Law Revision Act 1863 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Conventicle Act 1664 was an Act of the Parliament of England (16 Cha. 2. c. 4[2]) that forbade conventicles, defined as religious assemblies of more than five people other than an immediate family, outside the auspices of the Church of England and the rubrics of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.[3][4]
This law was a part of the Clarendon Code, named after Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, which aimed to discourage nonconformism and to strengthen the position of the Established Church but the Clarendon Code was not actually the work of Clarendon himself, who favoured a policy of greater tolerance towards dissenters.[5] These prohibitions led many, such as the Covenanters, to vacate their parishes rather than submit to the new Episcopal authorities. Just as the ministers left so too did the congregations, following their old pastors to sermons on the hillside. From small beginnings these field assemblies—or conventicles—were to grow into major problems of public order for the government.[citation needed]
The operation of the Clarendon Code at least as far as Protestants were concerned was mitigated somewhat by Charles II's Royal Declaration of Indulgence in 1672, which suspended the execution of the Penal Laws and allowed a certain number of non-conformist chapels to be staffed and constructed, with the pastors subject to royal approval.
The Conventicle Act was formally repealed in 1689,[citation needed] although its authority had lapsed, by default, in 1667.
- ^ Lawson, Rev. R. (1885). Maybole Past and Present. Pub. J. & R. Parlane. p. 49.
- ^ This nomenclature is a reference to the statute book of the numbered year of the reign of the named King in the stated chapter. This is the method used for Acts of Parliament from before 1962. Although Charles II did not assume the throne until 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father, Charles I, as king in 1649.
- ^ Lodge, Richard (1923). The History of England From the Restoration to the Death of William III (1660–1702). p. 69. OCLC 740976301.
- ^ Chadwick, W. Owen. "Protestantism: The Restoration (1660-85)". Britannica. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ History Learning Site – Clarendon Code