This key facts covers Charles's Attempts at Tolerance within Religious Settlement for GCSE History. Revise Religious Settlement in Restoration England 1660-1685 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 5 of 15 in this topic. Use this key facts to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.

📌 Charles's Attempts at Tolerance

Attempt	What Happened	Result
1662 Declaration	Charles tried to suspend Clarendon Code using royal prerogative	Parliament refused. Said only they could change law.
1672 Declaration of Indulgence	Suspended penal laws against Catholics and Dissenters	Parliament forced him to withdraw it in 1673. Passed Test Act instead.

Test Act 1673: Everyone holding public office must take Anglican communion and deny Catholic beliefs (the "Declaration against Transubstantiation"). Forced James, Duke of York, to resign as Lord High Admiral — publicly exposing his Catholicism for the first time.

Practice questions for Religious Settlement

Approximately how many ministers were ejected from the Church of England by the Act of Uniformity 1662?

A. About 200
B. About 2,000
C. About 20,000
D. About 200,000

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What did the Conventicle Act 1664 ban?

A. Catholics from holding any public office in England
B. Ejected ministers from living within 5 miles of a town
C. Religious meetings of five or more people outside the Church of England
D. Town officials from taking the sacrament in any but Anglican churches

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Quick recall flashcards

Who was John Bunyan?

Baptist preacher imprisoned 1660-72 for illegal preaching under the Clarendon Code. Wrote Pilgrim's Progress in prison — one of the most widely read books in English history. Symbol of Dissenting perseverance.

What was the Clarendon Code?

Four Acts (1661-65) persecuting Protestant Dissenters — Corporation Act (1661), Act of Uniformity (1662), Conventicle Act (1664), Five Mile Act (1665). Parliament's initiative, not Charles's — he actually tried twice to suspend it.

Charles's Attempts at Tolerance