The Scottish Episcopalians Act 1711 ( 10 Ann. c. 10), also referred to as the Toleration Act 1712, is an act of the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a ...

. Its purpose was "to prevent the disturbing those of the Episcopal Communion in Scotland in the Exercise of their Religious Worship and in the Use of the Liturgy of the Church of England and for repealing the Act passed in the

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

intituled Act against irregular Baptisms and Marriages". This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010.

History

In 1690, the national

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

abolished the Bishops in the Church of Scotland due to their refusal to swear loyalty to King William II of Scotland and following 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 ...

. The now-deposed bishops continued to minister and it led to the creation of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, ecclesiastical provi ...

. In the early 1700s, Scottish episcopal worship increased, usually relying on ordained priests from 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, ...

. In 1709, Reverend James Greenshields was conducting a service in accordance with Church of England liturgy when he was arrested at the behest of the Church of Scotland's

Presbytery of Edinburgh The Presbytery of Edinburgh was one of the Presbyterian polity, presbyteries of the Church of Scotland, being the local presbytery for Edinburgh.Church of Scotland Yearbook, 2010-2011 edition, Its boundary was almost identical to that of the City ...

for "being within their bounds and without their allowance and introducing a form of worship contrary to the purity and uniformity of the church established by law". He was found guilty at Edinburgh Magistrates' court and lost an appeal to the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

. He spent seven months in prison before being freed after a successful appeal to 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 ...

who ruled that he was acting legally. Due to the ambiguity of their status under

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

, the act was passed by the

. The act affirmed that the Scottish Episcopal Church and any other worship carried out under

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

liturgy were legal in Scotland. It also granted protection from criminal or civil actions brought by the Church of Scotland and prohibited any civil or criminal action being taken against any person who partook in episcopal worship, even if they had been

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

from the Church of Scotland. The act did however require Scottish Episcopalians to pray for the monarch during services.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1711 in Scotland Christianity and law in the 18th century Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1711 Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain concerning Scotland Scottish Episcopal Church Religion and politics Marriage in Christianity Baptism Freedom of religion History of Christianity in Scotland Marriage, unions and partnerships in Scotland Law about religion in the United Kingdom 1711 in Christianity Marriage law in the United Kingdom Church of Scotland

History

See also

Notes

References

External links