The Simony Act 1588 ( 31 Eliz. 1. 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 England, great council of Lords Spi ...

that stipulates penalties for

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...

(the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things), an offence under the

ecclesiastical 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 ...

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, ...

. , the act remains largely in force in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

. Under section 4 of the act, an unlawfully bestowed office can be declared void by

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, and the offender can be disabled from making future appointments and fined up to £1,000.''Halsbury'' 832 Clergy are no longer required to make a declaration as to simony on

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

but offences are now likely to be dealt with as "misconduct" under the

Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 __NOTOC__ This is a list of Church of England measures, which are the legislation of the Church of England. Some of these measures may have been repealed. Since 1970, measures have been made by the General Synod; prior to then they were made by ...

(

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

No. 3), r.8.''Halsbury'' 1359 Penalty by reference to the value of an ecclesiastical living was abolished by

Statute Law (Repeals) Measure 2018 A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

(

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

No. 1).

Notes

References

Bibliography

*Lord Mackay of Clashfern (ed.) (2002) ''Halsbury's Laws of England'', 4th ed., Vol.14, "Ecclesiastical Law", 832 'Penalties and disability on simony' * — 1359 'Simony' (see also current updates)

External links

Acts of the Parliament of England 1588 Acts of the Parliament of England concerning religion Acts of the Parliament of England still in force Simony Church of England legislation 1588 in Christianity Parliamentary Acts of the English Reformation {{England-statute-stub

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links