21 January 1549 A.D. Church of England, Edward VI,
& First Acts of Uniformity
1549Parliament
passed the first of four Acts of Uniformity, the first requiring the exclusive
use of the Book of Common Prayer in all public services of the Anglican Church.
First Act of Uniformity
1549
(2 & 3 Edward VI, c. 1)
Where
of long time there has been had in this realm of England and in Wales divers
forms of common prayer, commonly called the service of the Church; that is to
say the Use of Sarum, of York, of Bangor, and of Lincoln; and besides the same
now of late much more divers and sundry forms and fashions have been used in
the cathedral and parish churches of England and Wales, as well concerning the
Matins or Morning Prayer and the Evensong, as also concerning the Holy
Communion, commonly called the Mass, with divers and sundry rites and
ceremonies concerning the same, and in the administration of other sacraments
of the Church: and as the doers and executors of the said rites and ceremonies,
in other form than of late years they have been used, were pleased therewith,
so others, not using the same rites and ceremonies, were thereby greatly
offended; And albeit the king's majesty, with the advice of his most entirely
beloved uncle, the lord protector, and other of his highness's council, has
heretofore divers times essayed to stay innovations or new rites concerning the
premises; yet the same has not had such good success as his highness required
in that behalf: Whereupon his highness by the most prudent advice- aforesaid,
being pleased to bear with the frailty and weakness of his subjects in that
behalf, of his great clemency has not been only content to abstain from
punishment of those that have offended in that behalf, for that his highness
taketh that they did it of a good zeal; but also to the intent a uniform quiet
and godly order should be had concerning the premises, has appointed the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and certain of the most learned and discreet bishops,
and other learned men of this realm, to consider and ponder the premises; and
thereupon having as well eye and respect to the most sincere and pure Christian
religion taught by the Scripture, as to the usages in the primitive Church,
should draw and make one convenient and meet order, rite, and fashion of common
and open prayer and administration of the sacraments, to be had and used in his
majesty's realm of England and in Wales; the which at this time, by the aid of
the Holy Ghost, with one uniform agreement is of them concluded, set forth, and
delivered to his highness, to his great comfort and quietness of mind, in a
book entitled, 'The Book of the Common Prayer and Administration of the
Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, after the Use of the
Church of England':
Wherefore
the lords spiritual and commons, in this present parliament assembled,
considering as well the most godly travail of the king's highness, of the lord
protector, and of other his highness's council, in gathering and collecting the
said Archbishop, bishops, and learned men together, as the godly prayers,
orders, rites, and ceremonies in the said book mentioned, and the
considerations of altering those things which be altered and retaining those
things which be retained in the said book, but also the honour of God and great
quietness, which by the grace of God shall ensue upon the one and uniform rite
and order in such common prayer and rites and external ceremonies to be used
throughout England and in Wales, at Calais and the marches of the same, do give
to his highness most hearty and lowly thanks for the same; and humbly pray,
that it may be ordained and enacted by his majesty, with the assent of the
lords and commons in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of
the same, that all and singular person and persons that have offended
concerning the premises, other than such person and persons as now be and
remain in ward in the Tower of London, or in the Fleet, may be pardoned
thereof; and that all and singular ministers in any cathedral or parish church
or other place within this realm of England, Wales, Calais, and the marches of
the same, or other the king's dominions, shall, from and after the feast of Pentecost
next coming, be bound to say and use the Matins, Evensong, celebration of the
Lord's Supper, commonly called the Mass, and administration of each of the
sacraments, and all their common and open prayer, in such order and form as is
mentioned in the same book, and none other or otherwise. And albeit that the
same be so godly and good, that they give occasion to every honest and
conformable man most willingly to embrace them, yet lest any obstinate person
who willingly would disturb so godly order and quiet in this realm should not
go unpunished, that it may also be ordained and enacted by the authority
aforesaid that if any manner of parson, vicar, or other whatsoever minister,
that ought or should sing or say common prayer mentioned in the said book, or
minister the sacraments, shall after the said feast of Pentecost next coming
refuse to use the said common prayers, or to minister the sacraments in such
cathedral or parish church or other places as he should use or minister the
same, in: such order and form as they be mentioned and set forth in the said
book; or shall use, wilfully and obstinately standing in the same, any other
rite, ceremony, order, form, or manner of Mass openly or privily, or Matins,
Evensong, administration of the sacraments, or other open prayer than is
mentioned and set forth in the said book (open prayer in and throughout this
Act, is meant that prayer which is for other to come unto or hear either in
common churches or private chapels or oratories, commonly called the service of
the Church); or shall preach, declare, or speak anything in the derogation or
depraving of the said book, or anything therein contained, or of any part
thereof; and shall be thereof lawfully convicted according to the laws of this
realm, by verdict of twelve men, or by his own confession, or by the notorious
evidence of the fact: shall lose and forfeit to the king's highness, his heirs
and successors, for his first offence, the profit of such one of his spiritual
benefices or promotions as it shall please the king's highness to assign or
appoint, coming and arising in one whole year next after his conviction: and
also that the same person so convicted shall for the same offence suffer
imprisonment by the space of six months, without bail or mainprize: and if any
such person once convicted of any offence concerning the premises, shall after
his first conviction again offend and be thereof in form aforesaid lawfully
convicted, that then the same person shall for his second offence suffer
imprisonment by the space of one whole year, and also shall therefore be
deprived ipso facto of all his spiritual promotions; and that it shall be
lawful to all patrons, donors, and grantees of all and singular the same
spiritual promotions, to present to the same any other able clerk, in like
manner and form as though the party so offending were dead: and that if any
such person or persons, after he shall be twice convicted in form aforesaid,
shall offend against any of the premises the third time, and shall be thereof
in form aforesaid lawfully convicted, that then the person so offending and
convicted the third time shall suffer imprisonment during his life. And if the
person that shall offend and be convicted in form aforesaid concerning any of
the premises, shall not be beneficed nor have any spiritual promotion, that
then the same person so offending and convicted shall for the first offence
suffer imprisonment during six months, without bail or mainprize: and if any
such person not having any spiritual promotion, after his first conviction
shall again offend in anything concerning the premises, and shall in form
aforesaid be thereof lawfully convicted, that then the same person shall for
his second offence suffer imprisonment during his life.
II.
And it is ordained and enacted by the authority abovesaid, that if any person
or persons whatsoever, after the said feast of Pentecost next coming, shall in
any interludes, plays, songs, rhymes, or by other open words declare or speak
anything in the derogation, depraving, or despising of the same book or of
anything therein contained, or any part thereof; or shall by open fact, deed,
or by open threatenings, compel or cause, or otherwise procure or maintain any
parson, vicar, or other minister in any cathedral or parish church, or in any
chapel or other place, to sing or say any common and open prayer, or to
minister any sacrament otherwise or in any other manner or form than is
mentioned in the said book; or that by any of the said means shall unlawfully
interrupt or let any parson, vicar, or other ministers in any cathedral or
parish church, chapel, or any other place, to sing or say common and open
prayer, or to minister the sacraments, or any of them, in any such manner and
form as is mentioned in the said book; that then every person being thereof
lawfully convicted in form abovesaid, shall forfeit to the King our sovereign
lord, his heirs and successors, for the first offence ten pounds. And if any
person or persons, being once convicted of any such offence, again offend against
any of the premises, and shall in form aforesaid be thereof lawfully convicted,
that then the same persons so offending and convicted shall for the second
offence forfeit to the King our sovereign lord, his heirs and successors,
twenty pounds; and if any person after he, in form aforesaid, shall have been
twice convicted of any offence concerning any of the premises, shall offend the
third time, and be thereof in form abovesaid lawfully convicted, that then
every person so offending and convicted shall for his third offence forfeit to
our sovereign lord the King all his goods and chattels, and shall suffer
imprisonment during his life: and if any person or persons, that for his first
offence concerning the premises shall be-convicted in form aforesaid, do not
pay the sum to be paid by virtue of his conviction, in such manner and form as
the same ought to be paid, within six weeks next after his conviction, that
then every person so convicted, and so not paying the same, shall for the same
first offence, instead of the said tell pounds, suffer imprisonment by the
space of three months without bail or mainprize. And if any person or persons,
that for his second offence concerning the premises shall be convicted in form
aforesaid, do not pay the sum to be paid by virtue of his conviction, in such
manner and form as the same ought to be paid, within six weeks next after his
said second conviction, that then every person so convicted, and not so paying
the same, shall for the same second offence, instead of the said twenty pounds,
suffer imprisonment during six months without bail or mainprize.
III.
And it is ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all and every
justices of oyer and terminer, or justices of assize, shall have full power and
authority in every of their open and general sessions to inquire, hear, and
determine all and all manner of offences that shall be committed or done
contrary to any article contained in this present Act, within the limits of the
commission to them directed, and to make process for the execution of the same,
as they may do against any person being indicted before them of trespass, or
lawfully convicted thereof.
IV.
Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all and
every Archbishop and Bishop shall or may at all time and times at his liberty
and pleasure join and associate himself, by virtue of this Act, to the said
justices of oyer and terminer, or to the said justices of assize, at every of
the said open and general sessions to be holden in any place within his
diocese, for and to the inquiry, hearing, and determining of the offences
aforesaid.
V.
Provided always, that it shall be lawful to any man that understands the Greek,
Latin, and Hebrew tongue, or other strange tongue, to say and have the said
prayers, heretofore specified, of Matins and Evensong in Latin, or any such
other tongue, saying the same privately, as they do understand;
VI.
And for the further encouraging of learning in the tongues in the Universities
of Cambridge and Oxford, to use and exercise in their common and open prayer in
their chapels (being no parish churches) or other places of prayer, the Matins,
Evensong, Litany, and all other prayers (the Holy Communion, commonly called
the Mass, excepted) prescribed in the said book, in Greek, Latin, or Hebrew;
anything in this present Act to the contrary notwithstanding.
VII.
Provided also, that it shall be lawful for all men, as well in churches,
chapels, oratories, or other places, to use openly any psalm or prayer taken
out of the Bible, at any due time, not letting or omitting thereby the service
or any part thereof mentioned in the said book.
VIII.
Provided also, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the books
concerning the said services shall at the costs and charges of the parishioners
of every parish and cathedral church be attained and gotten before the feast of
Pentecost next following, or before; and that all such parish and cathedral
churches, or other places where the said books shall be attained and gotten
before the said feast of Pentecost, shall within three weeks next after the
said books so attained and gotten use the said service, and put the same in use
according to this Act.
IX.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no person or persons
shall be at any time hereafter impeached or otherwise molested of or for any of
the offences above mentioned, hereafter to be committed or done contrary to
this Act, unless he or they so offending be thereof indicted at the next
general sessions to be holden before any such of the justices of oyer and
terminer or justices of assize, next after any offence committed or done
contrary to the tenor of this Act.
X.
Provided always, and be it ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid,
that all and singular lords in the Parliament, for the third offence above
mentioned, shall be tried by their peers.
XI.
Provided also, and be it ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, that
the Mayor of London, and all other Mayors, bailiffs, and other head officers of
all and singular cities, boroughs, and towns corporate within this realm,
Wales, Calais, and the marches of the same, to the which justices of assize do
not commonly repair, shall have full power and authority by virtue of this Act
to inquire, hear, and determine the offences abovesaid, and every of them
yearly, within fifteen days after the feasts of Easter and St. Michael the
Archangel, in like manner and form as justices of assize and oyer and terminer
may do.
XII.
Provided always, and be it ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid,
that all and singular archbishops and bishops, and every of their chancellors,
commissaries, archdeacons, and other ordinaries, having any peculiar ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, shall have full power and authority by virtue of this Act, as
well to inquire in their visitations, synods, and elsewhere within their
jurisdiction, [or] at any other time or place, to take accusations and
informations of all and every the things above mentioned, done, committed, or
perpetrated, within the limits of their jurisdiction and authority, and to
punish the same by admonition, excommunication, sequestration, or deprivation,
and other censures and process, in like form as heretofore has been used in
like cases by the king's ecclesiastical laws.
XIII.
Provided always, and be it enacted, that whatsoever person offending in the
premises shall for the first offence receive punishment of the ordinary, having
a testimonial thereof under the said ordinary's seal, shall not for the same
offence again be summoned before the justices; and likewise receiving for the
said first offence punishment by the justices, he shall not for the same
offence again receive punishment of the ordinary; anything contained in this
Act to the contrary notwithstanding.
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