Thirty-Nine Articles

Timeline

1. 1563London (Convocation) · LondonArchbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker presided over the Convocation, revising the Forty-Two Articles of Edward VI's reign down to thirty-nine (Elizabeth at one point removed Article 29 to avoid provoking Catholic-leaning subjects), and published them as the official doctrinal text of the established church.
2. 1571Parliament at Westminster · LondonIn 1571 the Convocation and Parliament formally confirmed the full text of the Thirty-Nine Articles (including Article 29); that same year the Act of Subscription required office-holding clergy to read and sign the Articles publicly, elevating them from a conciliar decision to an enforceable charter of the established church.
3. 1584–1604English dioceses · EnglandArchbishop John Whitgift and others used the Articles to examine and discipline clergy, while Puritans sought to recognize only the 'core doctrine' clauses; disputes over the scope of subscription made the Articles an institutional yardstick dividing conformists from reformers within the established church.
4. 1662Church of England · EnglandAfter the Restoration the Articles continued to bind clergy and spread with Anglicanism to Ireland and elsewhere; though laity are no longer required to sign them clause by clause, they are still recognized as the charter text by which the Church of England defines its doctrine.