page_title: Seven Bishops
section_title: Sequence of events
hierarchical_section_title: Seven Bishops / Sequence of events
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (1645-1689)
context_page_description: The Seven Bishops were members of the Church of England tried and acquitted for seditious libel in June 1688.
  In November 1685, James II dismissed the English Parliament for refusing to pass measures removing legal restrictions on Catholics and Protestant Nonconformists. In August 1686, the Scottish Parliament suffered the same fate and neither body met again until 1689. The measures were imposed in April 1687 by issuing a Declaration of Indulgence in both countries; very few clergy in the Church of England or Church of Scotland actively promoted it, a reflection of opinion in their congregations. Some Nonconformists also opposed it, since many were more anti-Catholic than their colleagues in the national churches.
  In April 1688, the Declaration was reissued and James ordered the bishops to have it read in every church in England. The seven 'petitioned' to be excused, arguing it relied on an interpretation of Royal authority declared illegal by Parliament. After the petition was printed and publicly distributed, the bishops were charged with seditious libel and held in the Tower of London. They were tried and found not guilty on 30 June.
context_section_description: The Declaration of Indulgence was issued in Scotland on 12 February 1687, then England on 4 April. While many disliked it but did not actively oppose it; however, the political implications caused considerable debate.
  Divine right meant the monarch was exempt from the Test Acts and could 'dispense' or exempt individuals from them. While intended for exceptional cases, James used it routinely and on a much wider scale to appoint Catholics to senior positions in the army and government; after dismissing judges who opposed it, he obtained a legal ruling in 1686 confirming his interpretation. Few challenged a principle established under the Tudors but in a society that feared instability and relied on the law to ensure against it, the approach caused resentment and unease. 
  This was true even for those who benefitted, such as the Nonconformist Sir John Shorter, nominated by James for Lord Mayor of London in 1687. Before taking office, Sir John insisted on complying with the Test Act, reportedly due to a "distrust of the King's favour ... thus encouraging that which His Majesties whole Endeavours were intended to disannull." 
  The Declaration effectively abolished an Act, a right reserved for Parliament and reconfirmed in 1663 and 1673 by the strongly Royalist Cavalier Parliament. In addition, even if James was above the law, his subjects were not; they were being ordered to ignore the law and their oaths of office, making them guilty of perjury, then considered both illegal and a sin. The implications led to intensive debate, one of the most powerful arguments against compliance being the London priest William Sherlock.
  The Declaration was republished in April 1688; on 4 May, James ordered it read in every church, starting with London on 20 and 27 May, then 3 and 10 June elsewhere. Apologists like Hilaire Belloc argued this was simply to publicise the document, a claim not borne out by the evidence of James' Council meetings. The objective was to force the Church of England to publicly back suspension of the Test Acts. In a series of meetings, the London clergy overwhelmingly voted against compliance. On 13 May, William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury and seven other bishops, including Henry Compton, Francis Turner, Thomas White, Thomas Ken, John Lake, Jonathan Trelawny and William Lloyd resolved to defy James's order. While not present, the bishops of Winchester, Gloucester and Norwich were said to have approved this course of action.
  Despite his input, Compton was already suspended for refusing to ban John Sharp from preaching after he gave an anti-Catholic sermon. The other seven signed a petition requesting they be excused, referencing the Parliamentary decisions of 1663 and 1673. James received it on 18 May and reacted with his customary fury to being opposed; calling it "a standard of rebellion", he dismissed them, saying he expected to be obeyed. Within hours, copies of the petition were being sold on the streets of London; Compton was alleged to be the instigator. On 20 May, only seven churches in London read the Declaration, the congregation walking out in at least three of them; none of them read it out on 27th. In the country as a whole, only 200 out of 9,000 did so; even worse from James' perspective, many Non-Conformists supported the decision of their Church of England colleagues not to comply.
  Advisors like the Earl of Melfort, a Scottish Catholic convert, argued publication constituted seditious libel and the bishops should be put on trial. The Commission for Ecclesiastical Causes refused to take the case, while Lord Jeffreys recommended against prosecution; overruled, he asked if James would listen to his ministers or whether "the Virgin Mary is to do all". James summoned the bishops to appear before him on 8 June to explain their actions, a day known as 'Black Friday'. They refused to answer, arguing under English law, "no Subject was bound to accuse himself" and were ordered to appear in court on 15th. When asked to provide bail, they claimed exemption as peers and offered to give their word instead; Jam
caption: Lord Jeffreys, the Lord Chancellor, who urged James not to prosecute
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