[Illustration: Consecration of a Saxon Church
From an ancient manuscript of Cædmon's poems.]
With the reign of Mary the old religion was re-established; and it was not till that of Elizabeth that the Church of England was finally instituted in its present form. The doctrines of the Church were again modified, and the Forty-two Articles were reduced to thirty-nine by the convocation of the clergy in 1563. As no change was made in the episcopal form of government, and some rites and ceremonies were retained which many of the reformed considered as superstitious, this circumstance gave rise to many future dissensions. In 1559, before the close of the first year of Elizabeth's reign, the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity were passed with the object of bringing about the entire subjection of the Church and the people in religious matters to the royal authority.
From James I some relief was anticipated by Puritans and Nonconformists, but they were disappointed. Under Charles I the attempt was made, through the instrumentality of Laud, to place all the Churches of Great Britain under the jurisdiction of bishops. But after the death of Laud the Parliament abolished the episcopal government, and condemned everything contrary to the doctrine, worship, and discipline of the Church of Geneva. As soon as Charles II was restored, the ancient forms of ecclesiastical government and public worship were re-established, and three severe measures were passed against nonconformity, namely, the Corporation Act of 1661, the Act of Uniformity, passed in 1662, and the Test Act, passed in 1673 (see _Act of Uniformity, Corporation and Test Acts_). In the reign of William III, and particularly in 1689, the divisions among the friends of Episcopacy gave rise to the two parties called the _high-churchmen_ or _non-jurors_, and _low-churchmen_. The former maintained the doctrine of passive obedience to the sovereign; that the hereditary succession to the throne is of divine institution; and that the Church is subject to the jurisdiction of God alone. The gradual progress of civil and religious liberty since that time has settled practically all such controversies. The measures of relief granted to those outside the Established Church include the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts (1828), Catholic emancipation (1829), and the opening of the old universities to Dissenters (1871).