RECUSANTS. – The term “r.” or nonconformists dates from the time of Elizabeth, when the Anglican Church was established. At first the name served to denote Catholics who remained faithful to the ancient religion of the country, but it was later applied also to left-wing dissenters, called Puritans (v.), who still found too many Catholic elements in Anglicanism. During the 17th century the term “r.” was likewise applied to new sects that rejected the worship of the established Church.
The term “r.” would have had little significance had it not influenced legislation. Elizabeth had persecuted, more or less arbitrarily under existing laws, both Catholics and Puritans. But in 1593, to secure greater resources for the treasury, she convened Parliament. Elizabeth treated the matter with incredible hauteur and severity. Parliament accepted everything, and among other fiscal measures it passed against the “r.” the Act to retain her majesty’s subjects in their due obedience: a law to keep the king’s subjects in obligatory obedience (1593). This law struck both Puritans and Catholics with the following penalties: 1) fines of 20 pounds for every lunar month for anyone who refused to attend the official religious service; 2) civil incapacity for any public office or employment; 3) prohibition from keeping arms in the home; 4) incapacity to testify or bring legal actions before the courts; 5) incapacity to act as guardian or executor of a will; 6) incapacity to practise as a lawyer or physician and to serve in the military. In certain cases the “r.” could be expressly subjected to recognizance, whereby he was forbidden to go more than five miles from his domicile without having obtained regular permission, under penalty of forfeiture of all his goods. The law likewise provided that if the “r.” were expressly convicted of nonconformity, he could be compelled within three months to renounce the supremacy of the pope over the Church, or, if four judges so decided, to leave the realm. Once exiled from England, the “r.” could not re-enter without permission, and in case of transgression he became guilty of a capital crime.
The Act remained theoretically in force until the accession of George III (1760). In practice, its application varied continually; generally secret agreements were made between the government and the “r.” on fiscal matters, so that “recusancy” became a veritable source of revenue for the State.