The Feoffees for impropriations was an unincorporated organization dedicated to advancing the cause of Puritanism in England. It was formally in existence from 1625 to 1633.

Background

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 ...

established an uneasy truce between Catholics and Protestants that brought the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

to a conclusion and shaped the

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

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 ...

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, ...

. It was a compromise that was not completely satisfactory to either party. During the reign of James I, Puritanism was neither officially tolerated nor actively suppressed. With the succession of Charles I and the increasing power of

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...

, greater prominence was given to the requirement for adherence to the doctrine and liturgy of the established church. Puritans regarded this as a direct attack and responded by various overt and covert moves to resist the increasing

Arminianism Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was origina ...

of the Church of England. In 1626, the York House Conference. chaired by the Duke of Buckingham, was held to discuss theological differences between Puritans and Arminians. At the second session, the Puritan case was led by John Preston, however Buckingham came down in favour of Laud.

Establishment

When Preston realised that the York House Conference was not likely to favour Puritanism, he encouraged a group of Puritan lawyers, merchants, and clergymen (including

Richard Sibbes Richard Sibbes (or Sibbs) (1577–1635) was an Anglican theologian. He is known as a Biblical exegete, and as a representative, with William Perkins and John Preston, of what has been called "main-line" Puritanism because he always remained in ...

and John Davenport) to establish an organization known as the

Feoffees Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use o ...

for the Purchase of

Impropriations Impropriation, a term from English ecclesiastical law, was the destination of income from tithes of a church benefice to a layman. With the establishment of the parish system in England, it was necessary for all church property and income to have ...

. The feoffees would raise funds to purchase lay impropriations and

advowsons Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

, which would mean that the feoffees would then have the legal right to appoint their chosen candidates to

benefices A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

and lectureships. This would provide a mechanism both for increasing the number of preaching ministers in the country, and a way to ensure that Puritans could receive ecclesiastical appointments. The group considered obtaining

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

, or securing an Act of Parliament, but did not pursue this course. Twelve trustees were appointed - four clergymen, four lawyers and four merchants. A chairman was appointed in case the trustee split six - six on an issue. Over the few years that the feoffees were in existence, a number of trustees died and were replaced. The final chairman was Nicholas Rainton, at the time, Lord Mayor of London.

Activities

The feoffees began raising money by donations and using it to support their aims. They also used the donations to purchase the right to

tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques or via onli ...

which would give them a continuing income. Their primary purpose was to provide a pulpit for Puritan clergymen. They purchased

, established lectureships and provided direct financial support to individual clergymen. However, they were careful to ensure that they only supported those whose opinions they approved of. Purchases were made by individual trustees since the feoffees had no formal corporate existence. Although the trustees purchased advowsons, they had made relatively few presentations before their activities came to the notice of the authorities.

Suppression

In 1629,

Peter Heylin Peter Heylyn or Heylin (29 November 1599 – 8 May 1662) was an English ecclesiastic and author of many polemical, historical, political and theological tracts. He incorporated his political concepts into his geographical books ''Microcosm ...

, a Magdalen don, preached a sermon in St Mary's denouncing the Feoffees for Impropriations for sowing tares among the wheat. Archbishop Laud believed these activities seemed "a cunning way, under a glorious pretence, to overthrow the Church Government, by getting into their power more dependency of the clergy, than the King, and all the Peers, and all the Bishops in all the kingdom had". As a result of the publicity,

William Noy William Noy (1577 – 9 August 1634) was an English jurist. He was born on the family estate of Pendrea in St Buryan, Cornwall. He left Exeter College, Oxford, without taking a degree, and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1594. From 1603 until his ...

began to prosecute feoffees in the

Exchequer court The Exchequer of Pleas, or Court of Exchequer, was a court that dealt with matters of equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law and common law in England and Wales. Originally part of the , or King's Council, the Exchequer of Plea ...

. Their lawyers were

William Lenthall William Lenthall (1591–1662) was an English politician of the English Civil War, Civil War period. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons for a period of almost twenty years, both before ...

, later Speaker of the Long Parliament, and

Robert Holborne Sir Robert Holborne (died 1647) was an English lawyer and politician, of Furnival's Inn and Lincoln's Inn (where he was bencher and reader in English law). He acted, along with Oliver St John, as co-counsel for John Hampden in the ship money case ...

, later counsel to Hampden and Prynne. The feoffees' defense was that all of the men they had had appointed to office conformed to the Church of England. Nevertheless, in 1632, the Feoffees for Impropriations were dissolved and the group's assets forfeited to the crown: Charles ordered that the money should be used to augment the salary of

incumbents The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

and used for other pious uses not controlled by the Puritans. This suppression of the Feoffees, by legal action, was an early move of

Laudianism Laudianism, also called Old High Churchmanship, or Orthodox Anglicanism as they styled themselves when debating the Tractarians, was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England that tried to avoid the extremes of Rom ...

Rehabilitation

When the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

was called following the period of personal rule by Charles I, attempts were made by MPs to overturn the suppression of the feoffees.{{cite journal, title=A seventeenth century attempt to purify the Anglican Church, first=Isabel M, last=Calder, year=1948, journal=The American Historical Review, volume= 53, issue=4, page=773, doi=10.2307/1843836, jstor=1843836 In 1643, the House of Commons ordered the return of the money that had been taken by the King. In 1648, the surviving trustees secured a formal reversal of the previous court order from the House of Lords. However, the activities of the feoffees were never resumed, perhaps because under the English republic, they were considered unnecessary. John Marshall, one of the trustees bequeathed money and property for the erection of a new church in Southwark, but the feoffees were dissolved before the bequest was acted upon. In the late 17th century, new trustees were established to hold the advowson of the newly built church financed by the bequest - a single remaining legacy of the feoffees.

References

Puritanism in England