The Act of Uniformity 1558 (1 Eliz. 1. c. 2) was an act of the Parliament of England, passed in 1559, to regularise prayer, divine worship and the administration of the sacraments in the Church of England. In so doing, it mandated worship according to the attached 1559 Book of Common Prayer. The act was part of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement in England instituted by Elizabeth I, who wanted to unify the church and abolish the influence of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Other acts concerned with this settlement were the Act of Supremacy 1558 (1 Eliz. 1. c. 1) and the Thirty-Nine Articles.
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👉 Act of Uniformity 1558 in the context of Nonconformist (Protestantism)
Nonconformists are Protestant Christians who do not "conform" to the governance and usages of the established church in England, and in Wales until 1914, the Church of England.
Use of the term Nonconformist in England and Wales was precipitated by the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660, when the Act of Uniformity 1662 renewed opposition to reforms within the established church. By the late 19th century the term specifically included other Reformed Christians (English Presbyterians and Congregationalists), plus the Baptists, Brethren, Methodists, and Quakers. English Dissenters, such as the Puritans, who violated the Act of Uniformity 1558 – typically by practising radical, sometimes separatist, dissent – were retrospectively labelled as Nonconformists.
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Act of Uniformity 1558 in the context of Recusancy
Recusancy (from Latin: recusare, lit. 'to refuse') was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repealed in the Interregnum (1649–1660), remained on the statute books until 1888. They imposed punishments such as fines, property confiscation and imprisonment on recusants. The suspension under Oliver Cromwell was mainly intended to give relief to Nonconformist Protestants rather than to Catholics, to whom some restrictions applied into the 1920s, through the Act of Settlement 1701, despite the 1828–1829 Catholic emancipation.
Act of Uniformity 1558 in the context of Act of Supremacy 1558
The Act of Supremacy 1558 (1 Eliz. 1. c. 1), also known as the Act of Supremacy 1559, is an act of the Parliament of England, which replaced the original Act of Supremacy 1534 (26 Hen. 8. c. 1), and becoming law during the reign of Elizabeth I. The 1534 act was issued by Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, arrogating ecclesiastical authority to the monarch, but this law had been repealed by Mary I. Along with the Act of Uniformity 1558, the Supremacy Act made up what is generally referred to as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement.
The act remained in place until the 19th century, when some sections began to be repealed. By 1969, all provisions, except section 8 (which still remains in force), had been repealed by various acts, with the whole act repealed in Northern Ireland between 1950 and 1953.