The Convocation of 1563 was a significant gathering of English and Welsh clerics that consolidated the

Elizabethan religious settlement The Elizabethan Religious Settlement is the name given to the religious and political arrangements made for England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The settlement, implemented from 1559 to 1563, marked the end of the English Ref ...

, and brought the '' Thirty-Nine Articles'' close to their final form (which dates from 1571). It was, more accurately, the Convocation of 1562/3 of the

province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consi ...

, beginning in January 1562 ( Old Style).

Summary

Matthew Parker who was

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

had prepared documents outlining further reform in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, as had other bishops. A more thorough-going reform agenda was supported by over 30 of the participants. A compromise version, the "six articles", was narrowly defeated on a vote. The result was that the momentum for reform of the Church by its constitutional procedures was halted. Parker steered the outcome towards the '' via media''. "Swiss-inspired reformists" were headed off. The Convocation restored the position of the ''Thirty-Nine Articles'' in the Church of England. More accurately said, the ''Forty-Two Articles'' of Edward VI were reduced to a draft at this point, which was widely supported, and eventually enforced after 1571. There were further proposals from reformers, in particular on

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

and

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

, some of which originated from a group among the bishops. These, however, proved contentious, and did not pass. Subsequent contestation of the same issues made some of them a matter of authority. Collinson comments that

''Moves to improve the settlement in the convocation of 1563 were led by the bishops rather than by 'Puritans' in the lower house'' ../blockquote> Dawley writes that probably the surprise of the Convocation
..''was not the amount of support given to the Precisians but the unexpected extent of loyalty to the existing regulations'',
"Precisian" being the term used by Parker for his opponents on the issue of clerical dress.

Participants

Bishops
Of 20 bishops of the time (the see of Oxford being vacant), there were 12 who had left the Kingdom of England under Mary Tudor: the "Marian exiles". Of those who had remained, some had done so covertly. Of these bishops, 19 attended at the start—not Jones, who was acting as proxy for the aged Anthony Kitchin.

Lower House
There were 27 in the Lower House of Convocation who had been émigrés of Queen Mary's time. An estimate of over 50 who had conformed in Mary's reign has also been given. Carlson argues for a definite group of 34 Puritan reformers in the Lower House.

Deans

Nicholas Wotton Nicholas Wotton (c. 1497 – 26 January 1567) was an England, English diplomat, cleric and courtier. He served as Dean of York and Royal Envoy to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Life He was a son of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent ...
,
Dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter (religion), Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of dean (religion), Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Dea ...
, did not attend.(ODNB)

Archdeacons

Proctors

Procedure
The Convocation was called simultaneously with a Parliament, and took place in London, in
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
. Its sessions took place from 11 January to 14 April 1563 ( N.S.). Robert Weston opened the Convocation on 12 January, formally, with a prorogation to the following day. The actual proceedings of Convocation opened on 13 January, when the
Litany Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin ''wikt:litania, litania'' from Ancient Greek wikt:λιτα ...
was sung, and a Latin sermon by William Day preached.

The 39 Articles, to 1571
The subsequent passage of the 39 Articles into the orthodoxy of the Church of England was tortuous. There are various versions of the Articles: manuscript from the Convocation, printed in Latin ( Reyner Wolfe) and English by John Cawood and Richard Jugge (1563); printed later. A bill in the Parliament of 1566 to confirm the articles from the Convocation was halted in the House of Lords, by pressure from the Queen.

References
{{Authority control History of the Church of England 1560s in England 1562 in Christianity 1563 in Christianity 1562 in England 1563 in England 16th-century church councils Protestant councils and synods