An Act of the English Parliament making receiving Anglican communion a requirement for holding public office. The Act was instituted in response to fears of poperism as the French king, Louis VIV's armies marched across Europe to restore those parts of the Continent that had decided for Protestantism to Roman Catholicism and to Charles II's attempt to grant religious tolerance in England. The second Act required all members of both Houses of Parliament to swear oaths of supremacy and allegiance and anti-Catholic declarations before they could take their seats. One of the first to fall victim to the Act was James, the Duke of York and Charles's brother (he had embraced Roman Catholicism in 1670) who resigned as lord high admiral.
The effect of the Acts was such as the give preferential treatment to the members of the Church of England. One, e.g., could not hold an academic position in Oxford or Cambridge univerities without being an Anglican (or the support of one). The requirements of the first Test Act were mitigated by the passing of the Indemnity Act in 1727, but the Acts were not repealed until 1828, which allowed the founding, e.g., of the University of London though it did not receive its charter until 1836. The contemptuous way in which the newly 'liberated' dissenters were treated, however, embittered their relations to the Church of England throughout the century.
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