Dissenter

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Under a Dissenter ( "dissenters, dissidents") refers particularly in the ecclesiastical history of England and Wales , a member of a religious community whose followers their different religious beliefs because of the official Church have separated.

Definition / demarcation

As a rule, the Protestant " nonconformists " are referred to as dissenters, who fell away from the Anglican state church during the church reforms of the 16th to 18th centuries and formed their own religious communities. The term "nonconformists" was initially only used for those believers who refused to adhere to certain religious regulations of the official church but did not resign from the church fellowship.

In a broader sense, the term also includes those English or Welsh Catholics who were referred to as " Protesting Catholic Dissenters " in the draft Relief Act 1779 .

Historical classification

The state church regulations rejected by the dissenters had been laid down in several acts of uniformity passed by parliament since the 16th century . During the Commonwealth in the middle of the 17th century, the uniformity legislation was repealed, but during the Restoration under Charles II it was renewed in 1662 and supplemented by further laws against Catholics and nonconformists ( Clarendon Code ). In the course of the Glorious Revolution , the Dissenters were granted restricted religious freedom with the Act of Toleration of 1689. The term “dissenter” is mainly derived from this law, which was increasingly replaced by the word “nonconformist” in the middle of the 18th century.

Well-known groups and personalities

See also

literature

  • Michael R. Watts: The Dissenters. From the Reformation to the French Revolution. Clarendon, Oxford 1978, ISBN 0-19-822460-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Claus Bernet:  Rice Jones. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 24, Bautz, Nordhausen 2005, ISBN 3-88309-247-9 , Sp. 917-918.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links