Penal Laws in Elizabethan and Jacobean England

1559 Act of Supremacy made the Monarch the Supreme Governor of the Church of England; all clergy must take an oath of loyalty to said Monarch

1559 The Act of Uniformity made once-a-week attendance at Church of England services mandatory; failing to comply resulted in fine

1563 Declaring papal supremacy forbidden

1571 Calling the Monarch a “heretic” or “schismatic” made treason; Catholic publication forbidden

1581 Converting to Catholicism or converting someone to Catholicism made treason; £20 fine per month for recusancy

1585 Treason for Jesuits or seminary priests to enter the country

1587 Suspected recusant who failed to appear for trial incurred guilt

1593 Recusants restricted to within 5 miles of their homes

1605 Recusants barred from office and professions

1605 Convicted recusants to receive Anglican communion once per annum on pain of fine and forfeiture of property

1678 Recusants barred from Parliament

1692 Recusants incur double land tax

1699 Recusants barred from purchasing or inheriting land