Catholic Emancipation was the abolition of those civil and ecclesiastical restraints to which the Roman Catholics of Great Britain, and particularly of Ireland, were once subjected. By the statutes of William III. Roman Catholics were forbidden to hold property in land, and their spiritual instructors were open to the penalties of felony; and although latterly these restrictions had not been enforced, they remained unrepealed in England until 1778. The proposal to repeal similar enactments on the Scotch statute-books was delayed by the strenuous opposition of the Protestant associations, in connection with which the Lord Gordon riots occurred. In 1791, however, a bill was passed allowing Roman Catholics who took the oath of allegiance to hold landed property, enter the legal profession, and enjoy freedom of education.
In Ireland the Roman Catholics had been even more unjustly treated. Their public worship was proscribed, all offices and the learned professions were closed against them, they were deprived of the guardianship of their children, and if they had landed estates they were forbidden to marry Protestants. Burke and a strong body of followers took up their cause, and in 1792 and 1793 the worst of the disabilities were removed by the Irish parliament. Restraints on worship, education, and disposition of property were removed; they were admitted to the franchise, and to some of the higher civil and military offices, and to the honours and endowments of the Dublin University. They continued to be excluded, however, from thirty public offices, and from parliament = an arrangement which could not be changed without a repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts. It was part of Pitt's scheme when the union with Ireland was formulated in 1799 to admit Irish Roman Catholics to the parliament of the United Kingdom and to offices of state.
To this proposal, however, George III. was strongly hostile, and in 1801 Pitt was compelled to resign. Between that year and 1828 numerous attempts were made to abolish remaining disabilities, but without success, the Lords throwing out the bills passed latterly in the Commons, and George IV proving not less unyielding than his father. At length, on April the 10th 1829 an emancipation bill was carried through the Commons by Mr. Peel, and through the Lords by the Duke of Wellington. By this act Catholics became eligible to all offices of state, excepting the lord-chancellorships of England and Ireland, the lord-lieutenancy of Ireland, the office of regent or guardian of the United Kingdom, and that of High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland. They were still excluded from the right of presentation to livings, and all places connected with the ecclesiastical courts and establishment. The church patronage attached to any office in the hands of a Catholic was vested in the Archbishop of Canterbury. Attached to the bill was a clause for the gradual suppression of the Jesuits and monastic orders (religious establishments of females excepted). During the 20th century full emancipation was realised. Research Catholic Emancipation
The Coronation Chair is an ancient chair kept in Westminster Abbey, and used at the coronation of the sovereigns of England, all of whom have been crowned in it since Edward I. It is said to have been made for that king, and is architectural in design, having a high, upright, gabled, and crocketed back, with panels of tracery work, and rests on four carved lions. In a space beneath the seat is the famous Coronation Stone, the Scottish Lia Fail or 'Stone of Destiny', carried off to England by Edward I. It is said to have been originally brought from Ireland, and was used in the coronation of the Scottish kings at Scone. It is a block of red sandstone, derived, according to Skene, from the rocks near Scone. There is also a coronation chair for the consort, made for the coronation of Mary II, when she was crowned along with William III. Research Coronation Chair
Dieu et mon droit (God and my right) is the motto of the English royal family. The motto was the parole of Richard I at the Battle of Gisors in 1198, meaning that he was no vassal of France, but owed his royalty to God alone. The motto was revived by Edward III when he claimed the crown of France. Except during the reigns of Elizabeth I and Anne, who used the motto Semper eadem, and of William III, who personally used Je maintiendray, it has ever since been the royal motto of England. Research Dieu et mon droit
The five mile act, passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, prohibited Roman Catholics convicted of not attending the established church from going more than five miles from their usual place of abode. Another act of the same name passed by Charles II in 1665, prohibited nonconformist preachers and teachers who refused to take the oath of non-resistance, from coming within five miles of any city, town or borough corporate returning members to Parliament, or of any place where they had preached since the Act of Oblivion. This act was appealed by William III in 1689. Research Five Mile Act
The Holy Alliance was a league concluded at Paris, on September the 26th, 1815, between Alexander I, emperor of Russia, Francis of Austria, and Frederick William III of Prussia, and signed with their own hands, and without the countersign of a minister. It consisted of a declaration, that, in accordance with the precepts of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the principles of justice, charity, and peace should be the basis of their internal administration, and of their international relations, and that the happiness and religious welfare of their subjects should be their great object. Its real aim, however, was to maintain the power and influence of the existing dynasties. It was offered for signature to all the European Powers except the pope and the sultan of Turkey, and accepted by all except Britain. The events of 1848 broke up the Holy Alliance. Research Holy Alliance
The Tugenbund (league of virtue) was a society founded at Konigsberg in 1808 by the Prussian minister Stein, with the ostensible purpose of reviving patriotism and morality, promoting education and reorganising the army, but really with the object of driving the French out of Germany. Frederick William III was compelled by Napoleon to dissolve it in 1809. Research Tugenbund
Anne (known as Brandy Nan after her fondness for brandy) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1702 to 1714. She was born in 1664 at Twickenham and died in 1714. She was the second daughter of James II, then Duke of York and his wife Anne, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon. With her father's permission she was educated according to the principles of the English Church. In 1683 she was married to Prince George, brother to King Christian V. of Denmark. On the arrival of the Prince of Orange in 1688, Anne wished to remain with her father; but she was prevailed upon by LordChurchill (afterwards Duke of Marlborough) and his wife to join the triumphant party. She ascended the throne in 1702 following the death of William III. Her character was essentially weak, and she was governed first by Marlborough and his wife, and afterwards by Mrs. Masham. Most of the principal events of her reign are connected with the war of the Spanish Succession. The only important acquisition that England made by it was Gibraltar, which was captured in 1704. Another very important event of this reign was the union of England and Scotland under the name of Great Britain, which was accomplished in 1707. She seems to have long cherished the wish of securing the succession to her brother James, but this was frustrated by the internal dissensions of the cabinet. Grieved at the disappointment of her secret wishes, she fell into a state of weakness and lethargy, and died, on July the 20th, 1714. The reign of Anne was distinguished not only by the brilliant successes of the British arms, but also on account of the number of admirable and excellent writers who flourished at this time, among whom were Pope, Swift, and Addison. Anne bore her husband many children, all of whom died in infancy except one son, the Duke of Gloucester, who died at the age of twelve. Research Anne
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Abbreviations
Research Catholic Emancipation
