| Administrative History | Clergy, preachers, schoolmasters, surgeons, apothecaries and midwives were obliged to subscribe to certain oaths and declarations prior to receiving episcopal licence to practice. Most stringent were those demanded of the clergy. Originating with the Elizabethan settlement, procedure was formalised in 1604 when Canon 36 required recognition of the royal supremacy, use of the Book of Common Prayer and adherence to the 39 articles. The Act of Uniformity (1662) imposed further declarations: and subscriptions under Canon 36 and of conformity to the liturgy remained until 1865. The Benefices Act (1898) as amended by the Benefices (Amendment) Act of 1923 required declarations of Assent and Declaration (to the 39 articles, Book of Common Prayer and the ordering of bishops, priests and deacons, etc) in addition to oaths of allegiance and canonical obedience. |