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Enforcement of the Clarendon Code

Type Event Region Europe Time 1661–1665

After the Stuart Restoration in the 1660s, the cabinet led by the Earl of Clarendon pushed through a series of penal statutes collectively known as t…

Timeline

  1. 1660–1661London · LondonAfter the restoration of Charles II, the conservative Privy Council, led by Edward Hyde (Earl of Clarendon), set about restoring the authority of the established church beyond the limited toleration promised in the Declaration of Breda of 1660, laying the political groundwork for subsequent penal legislation.
  2. 1661–1662Westminster · LondonParliament passed the Corporation Act of 1661, requiring municipal officers to take communion and swear an oath of allegiance to the established church; the Act of Uniformity of 1662 mandated the use of the revised Book of Common Prayer, resulting in the ejection of some 2,000 Puritan ministers and strict restrictions on Nonconformist public worship.
  3. 1664–1665England · EnglandThe Conventicle Act of 1664 banned Nonconformist secret meetings of more than five persons; the Five Mile Act of 1665 further prohibited ejected Nonconformist ministers from residing or teaching within five miles of their former parishes, at which point the penal system of the Clarendon Code was essentially complete.

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