The Conventicle Act ( Danish: , Norwegian: ) was a decree issued 13 January 1741 by King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway and forbade lay preachers from holding religious services –

conventicles A conventicle originally meant "an assembly" and was frequently used by ancient writers to mean "a church." At a semantic level, ''conventicle'' is a Latinized synonym of the Greek word for ''church'', and references Jesus' promise in Matthew 18: ...

– without the approval of the local Lutheran priest. The law was repealed in 1839 (officially in 1848) in Denmark and 1842 in Norway, which lay the groundwork for

freedom of assembly Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of individuals to peaceably assemble and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas. The right to free ...

Denmark

The decree had its roots in developments in the Danish part of Denmark-Norway.

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

had started to become a strong movement in some circles, coming from Germany in 1703. Among the pietists, conventicles were a foundation of religious life, and prayer and Bible studies were led in the home by laypeople. Pietism put a heavy emphasis on individual faith, and in such a way that it could threaten the unity of the Danish state church. The Danish state in the 1700s broke with Pietism by incorporating it into the state religion. The branch of Pietism that was incorporated was

August Hermann Francke August Hermann Francke (; 22 March 1663 – 8 June 1727) was a German Lutheran clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and Biblical scholar. His evangelistic fervour and pietism got him expelled as lecturer from the universities of Dresden and ...

's form of Pietism (), which had a positive relationship with the state and church. It turned out, however, that stricter legislation was needed to keep the more radical Pietists in check, and this led to the above-mentioned decree in 1741. Norway was then in union with Denmark, so the law also applied to

Norwegians Norwegians () are an ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the Norsemen, Norse of the Early ...

in Denmark. The decree stated that only the parish priest could hold such meetings and speak at them. Of course, morning and evening devotions could be held in the family without the priest's participation, but others could not be invited to these devotions. One exception was small group meetings, where the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

was briefly discussed. These gatherings, however, had to be approved by the local parish priest. In Denmark, the decree was in practice overruled by

Christian VIII Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Fred ...

in 1839 under the influence of the (religious gatherings), stating that priests should take a more moderate approach towards the groups. In 1848 it was officially repealed.

Norway

The European Protestant movement came to Norway later than to Denmark, but there was influence from the end of the 18th century and the early 19th century. After 1814, the Conventicle Act was retained as Norwegian law, even though the union with Denmark had been dissolved and Norway was in a union with Sweden. Preacher

Hans Nielsen Hauge Hans Nielsen Hauge (3 April 1771 – 29 March 1824) was a 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran lay minister, spiritual leader, business entrepreneur, social reformer and author. He led a noted Pietism revival known as the Haugean movement. Hauge is al ...

was particularly known for his disobedience towards and fight against the Conventicle Act. One scholar notes that the law "was not created to be used against Hauge, but it is almost only against Hauge that it was attempted to be used." In 1833, jurist Søren Anton Wilhelm Sørenssen made a proposal to the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

(parliament) that the

Norwegian Constitution The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish: ; Norwegian Bokmål: ; Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll. ...

allow the freedom of religion. Three years later, Parliament tried to repeal the act at the proposals of three

Haugean The Haugean movement or Haugeanism () was a Pietistic state church reform movement intended to bring new life and vitality into the Church of Norway, which had been often characterized by formalism and lethargy. The movement emphasized personal ...

members, but was stopped by the government. Proposals were sent to the church committee, which was in agreement with the repeal; however, the Theological Faculty was against it. An attempt was again made in 1839, with Bishop Peter Olivarius Bugge, a supporter of the Pietists, being the only bishop to call for its repeal. Only in 1842, when the Parliament adopted the repeal for the third time, did the act pass. When the ordinance was repealed, it laid an essential foundation for

in Norway. In the next three years, dispensations were granted for the establishment of church congregations outside the state church. The

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

received their dispensation in 1842 and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1843. In 1845 came the Dissenter Act which opened the way for all Christian groups to establish themselves in Norway. However,

monastic orders Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

would remained banned until 1897 and

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

until 1956. Other religions were allowed to organize after 1891.

References

External links

Konventikkelplakaten
historical legal text from Norsk Lærerakademi {{DEFAULTSORT:Conventicle Act (Denmark-Norway) 18th century in Danish law Legal history of Norway 1741 in law 1741 in Denmark 1741 in Norway 18th century in Norway 1741 in religion Christianity and law in the 18th century Christianity and law in the 19th century 19th century in Danish law

Denmark

Norway

See also

References

External links