ABC of Nonconformity

Various Acts of Uniformity sought to ensure common practice and order throughout the English church, thus rendering illegal any religious practice that was not found in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) . The first such act was passed in 1548 and it upheld the BCP as containing the only legal form of worship. A first offence was to be punished by loss of earnings and six months imprisonment; a second offence would result in a year’s imprisonment; a third offence would lead to life imprisonment. The BCP was revised in 1552 rendering necessary a further act, though this was revoked during the reign of Mary I who tried to convert England back to Roman Catholicism. On the accession of Elizabeth I in 1559, a revised BCP was published and the new act went further than the previous two by trying to enforce attendance at worship in the parish church...