What was the purpose of the 1701 Act of Settlement?
The Act of Settlement was passed in 1701, reinforcing the Bill of Rights agreed by William and Mary in 1689. The main aim of this legislation was to ensure a Protestant succession to the English throne. In 1707, as a result of the Act of Union, this Act was extended to Scotland.
What did the Act of Settlement 1701 forbid?
The Act of Settlement of 1701, which bars Catholics from the throne – or marrying the monarch, or princes in the line of succession – has become an increasing source of contention, with a series of attempts to abolish such a nakedly discriminatory law.
What caused the Act of Settlement?
The need for the Act of Settlement was prompted by the failure of William and Mary, as well as that of Mary's Protestant sister – the future Queen Anne – to produce any surviving children, and by the perceived threat posed by the pretensions to the throne by remaining Roman Catholic members of the House of Stuart.
What are the key provisions of the Act of Settlement?
In addition to settling the crown, the act contained some important constitutional provisions: (1) all future monarchs must join in communion with the Church of England; (2) if a future monarch is not a native of England, England is not obliged to engage in any war for the defense of territories (e.g., Hanover) not ...
What were the constitutional changes brought about in England between 1689 and 1701?
The Bill of Rights was quickly followed by the 1689 Mutiny Act, which limited the maintenance of a standing army during peacetime to one year. In 1701, the English Bill of Rights was supplemented by England's Act of Settlement, which was essentially designed to further ensure Protestant succession to the throne.
Who was king of England in 1701?
James II of EnglandJames VII and IIPredecessorCharles IISuccessorsWilliam III & II and Mary IIBorn14 October 1633 (N.S.: 24 October 1633) St James's Palace, London, EnglandDied16 September 1701 (aged 67) (N.S.) Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France13 more rows
Which act is known as Act of Settlement?
The Declaratory Act, 1781 is known as the Act of Settlement. The purpose of the act was to remove ambiguity regarding the provisions of the Regulating Act. The Act of settlement was also implemented to ensure smooth collection of revenue in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
Which country was furious with the 1701 law and declared that they would choose their own monarch?
Sophia's son George I succeeded to the throne upon Anne's death in 1714, and his descendants, including the current Queen, have ruled Britain ever since - all because of a decision of Parliament in 1701 to alter the succession and to choose its own monarch.
Which year did the Act of Settlement was passed in India?
1781The Act of Settlement was an Amending Act of 1781, which was passed by British Parliament on 5th July 1781 to remove the defects of the Regulating Act 1773. It is also known as Declaratory Act, 1781.
What is the law of settlement?
1. An agreement that ends a dispute and results in the voluntary dismissal of any related litigation. Regardless of the exact terms, parties often choose to keep their settlement agreements private.
What was the necessity of passing the Act of Settlement of 1781?
The main purpose of the Act of Settlement 1781 was to establish a system of courts to remove grievances against the Supreme Courts and mitigate the failure of the Regulating Act's 1773 aim of controlling administration through judiciary problems with the Supreme Court.
Why can't a Catholic be king or queen?
No, the Monarch cannot be a Catholic. And the reason is obvious: the King or Queen of the United Kingdom is also the head of the Church of England. You cannot be the head of a church and belong to another church. It's not discrimination.
Which country was furious with the 1701 law and declared that they would choose their own monarch?
Sophia's son George I succeeded to the throne upon Anne's death in 1714, and his descendants, including the current Queen, have ruled Britain ever since - all because of a decision of Parliament in 1701 to alter the succession and to choose its own monarch.
Which act is known as Act of Settlement?
The Declaratory Act, 1781 is known as the Act of Settlement. The purpose of the act was to remove ambiguity regarding the provisions of the Regulating Act. The Act of settlement was also implemented to ensure smooth collection of revenue in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
Why can't a Catholic be king or queen?
No, the Monarch cannot be a Catholic. And the reason is obvious: the King or Queen of the United Kingdom is also the head of the Church of England. You cannot be the head of a church and belong to another church. It's not discrimination.
What do you know about the Act of Union of 1707?
The Acts of Union, passed by the English and Scottish Parliaments in 1707, led to the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain on 1 May of that year. The UK Parliament met for the first time in October 1707.
What is an encyclopedia editor?
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...
Which act of settlement bypassed 48 legitimate but Catholic heirs and devolved the throne?
United Kingdom: The sinews of war. …that was resolved in the Act of Settlement (1701) , which bypassed 48 legitimate but Catholic heirs and devolved the throne upon a granddaughter of James I, that is, on Sophia of Hanover and her son George (later George I). In clauses that read like a criticism of the policies of…. Anne.
Who was the first monarch of the house of Hanover?
The British Act of Settlement(1701) designated her heiress of the British crown after Queen Anne, but, because Sophia died shortly before Anne in 1714, her son George Louis succeeded as George I , the first of five monarchs of the house of Hanover to rule both Hanover…
Who was the son of Sophia?
The act was thus responsible for the accession of Sophia’s son George I in 1714—notwithstanding the claims of 57 persons closer by the rules of inheritance than Sophia and George.
What was the purpose of the Act of Settlement of 1701?
The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure the Protestant succession to the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees for ensuring a parliamentary system of government. The Act also strengthened the Bill of Rights (1689), which had previously established the order of succession for Mary II’s heirs.
What did the Sovereign do after 1707?
The Sovereign now had to swear to maintain the Church of England (and after 1707, the Church of Scotland). The Act of Settlement not only addressed the dynastic and religious aspects of succession, it also further restricted the powers and prerogatives of the Crown.
What was the purpose of the judicial independence act?
Under the Act, parliamentary consent had to be given for the Sovereign to engage in war or leave the country, and judges were to hold office on good conduct and not at Royal pleasure - thus establishing judicial independence.
When did the succession to the crown act end?
The Succession to the Crown Act (2013) amended the provisions of the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement to end the system of male primogeniture, under which a younger son can displace an elder daughter in the line of succession. The Act applies to those born after 28 October 2011.
Who was the king of Scotland in 1714?
However, Sophia died before Queen Anne, therefore the succession passed to her son, George, Elector of Hanover, who in 1714 became King George I. The act was later extended to Scotland as a result ...
Why was the Bill of Rights important?
From this time onwards the Bill of Rights proved to be of fundamental importance for the evolution of constitutional monarchy. The Act of Settlement reinforced the Bill of Rights, in that it strengthened the principle that government was undertaken by the Sovereign and his or her constitutional advisers (i.e.
Settlement, Act of
Settlement, Act of, 1701. This statute, 12 & 13 Wm. III c. 2, is strange and betrays the mixed motives of its authors. The immediate problem was to provide for the protestant succession after the death of Anne's son, the duke of Gloucester, in July 1700.
Settlement, Act of
Settlement, Act of (1701) English parliamentary statute regulating the succession to the throne. The purpose of the Act was to prevent the restoration of the Catholic Stuart monarchy, the last surviving child of Queen Anne having died.
Settlement, Act of
Settlement, Act of a statute of 1701 that vested the British Crown in Sophia of Hanover (granddaughter of James I of England and VI of Scotland) and her Protestant heirs, so excluding Roman Catholics, including the Stuarts, from the succession. Sophia's son became George I.
What was the purpose of the Act of Settlement?
Its principal purpose was to exclude Roman Catholics from the throne, which ever since has been one of the British constitution’s few definite principles. Enacted ‘for the happiness of the nation and the security of our religion’, it provided that ‘the kingdoms of England, France and Ireland, with the dominions and territories thereunto belonging’ should not pass to anyone ‘who is or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the see or church of Rome or shall profess the popish religion or shall marry a papist…’.
What happened to William the Duke of Gloucester?
The death of a frail little boy of eleven of a fever at Windsor at the end of July 1700 had far-reaching consequences. William, Duke of Gloucester, was the only surviving child of Princess Anne and Prince George of Denmark. Now in her mid- thirties, the unfortunate princess had endured seventeen pregnancies and it seemed unlikely ...
How old was James II's son?
James II himself, in exile in France, was not a feasible candidate, but he had a twelve-year-old son, James Francis Edward, titular Prince of Wales (known to history as the Old Pretender).
Did William III speak English?
He spoke not a word of English, and took little interest in the place, which made him the best guarantee of the English constitutional settlement which had followed the dethronement of James II in 1688. The Act of Settlement passed by Parliament and signed by William III in 1701 accordingly provided that, failing direct heirs of William or Anne, ...
Who was the only child of Princess Anne?
The death of a frail little boy of eleven of a fever at Windsor at the end of July 1700 had far-reaching consequences. William, Duke of Gloucester, was the only surviving child of Princess Anne ...
Who was the son of Princess Sophia?
She was now entering her seventies, but her son George was a staunch Protestant, a competent soldier and a determined opponent of the French.
Who was Charles II's grandmother?
Their grandmother was Charles II’s sister Henrietta (‘Minette’), but they were outsiders against the youthful Elector George Lewis of Hanover, the great-grandson of James I. His mother, Princess Sophia, was the youngest daughter of Charles I’s sister Elizabeth, Winter Queen of Bohemia and heroine of Protestant Europe.
Original context
Following the Glorious Revolution, the line of succession to the English throne was governed by the Bill of Rights 1689, which declared that the flight of James II from England to France during the revolution amounted to an abdication of the throne and that James's daughter Mary II and her husband, William III (who was also James's nephew), were James's successors.
Provisions
The Act of Settlement provided that the throne would pass to the Electress Sophia of Hanover – a granddaughter of James VI and I and a niece of King Charles I – and her descendants, but it excluded "for ever" "all and every Person and Persons who ...
Opposition
The Tory administration that replaced the Whig Junto in 1699 took responsibility for steering the Act through Parliament. As a result, it passed with little opposition, although five peers voted against it in the House of Lords, including the Earl of Huntingdon, his brother-in-law the Earl of Scarsdale and three others.
Effects
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Present status
As well as being part of the law of the United Kingdom, the Act of Settlement was received into the laws of all the countries and territories over which the British monarch reigned. It remains part of the laws of the 16 Commonwealth realms and the relevant jurisdictions within those realms.
Amendment proposals
Challenges have been made against the Act of Settlement, especially its provisions regarding Roman Catholics and preference for males. However, changing the Act is a complex process, since the Act governs the shared succession of all the Commonwealth realms.
External links
Text of the Act of Settlement (1700) as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
