The Sacheverell riots were a series of outbreaks of public disorder, which spread across England during the spring, summer and autumn of 1710 in which supporters of the Tories attacked the homes and meeting-houses of Dissenters, particularly those of Presbyterians, whose congregations tended to support the Whigs. (Further violence, again targeting Presbyterian chapels, occurred in the Coronation riots of 1714 and the Rebellion riots of 1715.) The Sacheverell and Rebellion riots are regarded as the most serious instances of public disorder of the eighteenth century, until, perhaps, the anti-Catholic protests of 1780. The riots reflected the dissatisfaction of many Anglicans with the toleration of an increasing number of Independent,

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, and Presbyterian chapels, which diminished the apparent authority of 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, ...

; and were a reaction to perceived grievances against the Whig government, in regard to high taxation resulting from the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, the recent sudden influx of some 10,000 Calvinist refugees from Germany, and the growth of the merchant classes, the so-called "monied interest".

Causes

The riots were a response to the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell. Sacheverell was a

high church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

Tory Anglican who had preached two sermons that described what he saw as threats to the

. The threat from Catholics was dealt with in three minutes; but the rest of the one-and-a-half-hour sermon was an attack on Nonconformists and the "false brethren" who aided them in menacing Church and State. His target was the Whig party. His sermons brought to the fore the tensions that existed between Whig and Tory across the country at that time. Sacheverell was tried by the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

at Whig instigation, accused of preaching against the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

of 1688. The House found that his sermons should be publicly burned and he should be banned from preaching for three years. This made him a martyr in the eyes of many Tory supporters, and triggered the riots.

Riots

Rioting broke out in London. On the evening of 1 March, protestors attacked an elegant Presbyterian meeting-house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, built only five years earlier. They smashed the windows, stripped the tiles from the roof and ripped out its interior wooden fittings, which they made into a bonfire. The crowd then marauded through much of the West End of London chanting "High Church and Sacheverell" . It spread across the country, notably in Wrexham,

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

and Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, where Presbyterian meeting-houses were attacked, with many being burnt to the ground. The Sacheverell riots, and further disturbances in 1714 and 1715, led to the passing of the

Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled ...

References

Bibliography

* {{Riots in England 1710 in England 1710s riots Conflicts in 1710 1710s in London 18th-century riots in London Religion and politics 1710 crimes in Europe