High Commission

E22493

The High Commission was a powerful ecclesiastical court in early modern England that enforced religious conformity and royal authority, often provoking controversy for its extensive and arbitrary powers.


Statements (57)
Predicate Object
instanceOf church court
ecclesiastical court
royal commission
abolishedBy Long Parliament
abolishedInYear 1641
aim maintenance of religious uniformity
protection of royal supremacy in the church
appliesToJurisdiction Church of England
characteristic lack of jury trials
secret examinations
use of inquisitorial procedure
wide discretionary powers
controversy accusations of arbitrary power
association with Laudianism
conflict with common law courts
persecution of Puritans
country Kingdom of England
hasRole censorship enforcement
church discipline
enforcement of religious conformity
instrument of royal authority
moral regulation
jurisdictionOver blasphemy
clergy
heresy cases
laity
moral offences
nonconformity
legalAuthority Act of Supremacy 1559
royal letters patent
royal prerogative
location London
meetsAt Lambeth Palace
St Paul’s Cathedral precincts
notableMember John Whitgift
Matthew Parker
Richard Bancroft
William Laud
opposedBy Parliamentarians
Puritans
common lawyers
religious nonconformists
power book licensing and censorship
deprivation of benefices
ex officio oath
examination of witnesses
excommunication
fines
imprisonment
suspension from ministry
relatedTo Court of High Commission for Scotland
Court of Star Chamber
religion Anglicanism
Protestantism
timePeriod Elizabethan era
Stuart period
early modern period

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Eleven Years' Tyranny
judicialInstrument
Personal Rule (1629–1640)
usedCourt

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