This definitions covers Key Terms within Catholics and Dissenters for GCSE History. Revise Catholics and Dissenters in Restoration England 1660-1685 for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 4 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 10 of 14 in this topic. Make sure you can use the exact wording confidently, because definition marks are often lost through vague language.
Topic position
Section 10 of 14
Practice
8 questions
Recall
4 flashcards
📖 Key Terms
- Conventicle
- An illegal religious meeting held by Nonconformists outside the Church of England. The Conventicle Acts (1664, 1670) made attending these punishable by fines and imprisonment.
- Recusancy
- The offence of refusing to attend Church of England services. Catholics who stayed away faced fines of £20 per month — though these were rarely enforced except during crisis periods.
- Nonconformist / Dissenter
- A Protestant who refused to conform to the Church of England's doctrine and worship. Included Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, and Quakers.
- Clarendon Code
- Four Acts passed 1661-65 — Corporation Act, Act of Uniformity, Conventicle Act, Five Mile Act — that excluded Nonconformists from public life and made their worship illegal.
- Test Act 1673
- Required anyone holding public office to take communion in the Church of England and deny Catholic doctrine (transubstantiation). Forced the Duke of York (James) to resign as Lord High Admiral, revealing he was Catholic.
- Declaration of Indulgence (1672)
- Charles's attempt to suspend the penal laws against Catholics and Dissenters by royal prerogative. Parliament forced him to withdraw it in 1673, insisting only Parliament could change the law.