The Coronation Oath Act 1688 (1 Will & Mary c 6) is an
Act of the
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...
. It was passed in 1689 (
New Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
; 1688 Old Style). The preamble noted that "by the Law and Ancient Usage of this Realm" the monarchs of England had taken a solemn oath at their
coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...
to maintain the statute laws and customs of the country and of its inhabitants, but the text of this oath had become partly meaningless over time, "framed in doubtful Words and Expressions with relation to ancient Laws and Constitutions at this time unknown". It established a single uniform oath to be taken by future monarchs at their coronation, and also established that this oath was to be taken by
William III and
Mary II when they were crowned. The oath was fundamentally different from the traditional coronation oath which recognized laws as being the grant of the King whereas the Act's oath sought to bind the King to rule according to the law agreed in parliament. The oath was shorter than the one used in 1660, removing a number of awkward phrases and references to past monarchs; a significant alteration was the explicit inclusion of an oath to maintain "the true Profession of the Gospel and the Protestant Reformed Religion Established by Law", rather than the somewhat more vague promise to "Protect and Defend the Bishops and Churches under
yGovernment."
Section 2 of the
Act of Settlement 1701 reiterated the oath. This Act mostly remains in force . (Section 4, from "bee it" to "enacted that" was repealed by section 1(1) of, and Part I of the Schedule to, the
Statute Law Revision Act 1888.)
The Scottish
Claim of Right Act 1689
The Claim of Right (c. 28) is an Act passed by the Convention of the Estates, a sister body to the Parliament of Scotland (or Three Estates), in April 1689. It is one of the key documents of United Kingdom constitutional law and Scottish con ...
says that the monarch cannot "exercise the regal power until he or she swear the Coronation Oath."
Claim of Right at legislation.gov.uk
/ref>
See also
* Accession Declaration Act 1910
The Accession Declaration Act 1910 is an Act which was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to alter the declaration that the Sovereign is required to make at their accession to the throne as first required by the Bill of Rights of 1 ...
References
*''The Law & Working of the Constitution: Documents 1660-1914'', ed. W. C. Costin & J. Steven Watson. A&C Black, 1952. Vol. I (1660-1783), p. 57-9. (This includes a copy of the text of the oath as used in 1660, given for comparison)
External links
*
*House of Commons Library (2008
The Coronation Oath
Standard Note SN/PC/00435.
Image of the Act on the UK Parliamentary website
1688 in law
1688 in England
Acts of the Parliament of England
Acts of the Parliament of England still in force
Oaths of allegiance
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