archbishops of Canterbury, the bishops, and their successors, and the rest of the whole clergy of the said province of Canterbury, in their several callings, offices, functions, ministries, degrees, and administrations; as also by all and every dean of the arches, and other judge of the said archbishop's courts, guardians of spiritualities, chancellors, deans and chapters, archdeacons, commissaries, officials, registrars, and all and every other ecclesiastical officers, and their inferior ministers, whatsoever, of the same province of Canterbury, in their and every of their distinct courts, and in the order and manner of their and every of their proceedings; and by all other persons within this realm, as far as lawfully, being members of the church, it may concern them, as in our said letters patent amongst other clauses more at large doth appear. Forasmuch as the bishop of London, president of the said convocation, and others, the said bishops, deans, archdeacons, chapters, and colleges, with the rest of the clergy, having met together, at the time and place before mentioned, and then and there, by virtue of our said authority granted unto them, treated of, concluded, and agreed upon certain Canons, Orders, Ordinances, and Constitutions, to the end and purpose by us limited and prescribed unto them; and have thereupon offered and presented the same unto us, most humbly desiring us to give our royal assent unto their said Canons, Orders, Ordinances, and Constitutions, according to the form of a certain statute or act of parliament, made in that behalf in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, and by our said prerogative royal and supreme authority in causes ecclesiastical, to ratify by our letters patent under our great seal of England, and to confirm the same, the title and tenor of them being word for word as ensueth:

OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

1. The King's Supremacy over the Church of England, in Causes Ecclesiastical, to be maintained.

As our duty to the king's most excellent majesty requireth, we first decree and ordain, That the archbishop of Canterbury (from time to time), all bishops of this province, all deans, archdeacons, parsons, vicars, and all other ecclesiastical persons, shall faithfully keep and observe, and (as much as in them lieth) shall cause to be observed and kept by others, all and singular laws and statutes, made for restoring to the crown of this kingdom the ancient jurisdiction over the state ecclesiastical, and abolishing of all foreign power repugnant to the same. Furthermore, all ecclesiastical persons having cure of souls, and all other preachers, and readers of divine lectures, shall, to the uttermost of their wit, knowledge, and learning, purely and sincerely, without any color or dissimulation, teach, manifest, open, and declare, four times every year at the least, in their sermons and other collations and lectures, that all usurped and foreign power (forasmuch as the same hath no establishment nor ground by the law of God) is for most just causes taken away and abolished: and that therefore no manner of obedience, or subjection, within his majesty's realms and dominions, is due unto any such foreign power, but that the king's power, within his realms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and all other his dominions and countries, is the highest power under God; to whom all men, as well inhabitants, as born within the same, do by God's laws owe most loyalty and obedience, afore and above all other powers and potentates in the earth.

II. Impugners of the King's Supremacy censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, That the King's majesty hath not the same authority in causes ecclesiastical, that the godly kings had amongst the Jews and Christian emperors of the primi tive church; or impeach any part of his regal supremacy in the said causes restored to the crown, and by the laws of this realm therein established; let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored, but only by the archbishop, after his repentance, and public revocation of those his wicked errors.

III. The Church of England a true and Apostolical Church.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, That the Church of England, by law established under the king's majesty, is not a true and apostolic church, teaching and maintaining the doctrine of the apostles; let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored, but only by the archbishop, after his repentance, and public revocation of this his wicked error.

IV. Impugners of the Public Worship of God, established in the Church of England, censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, That the form of God's worship in the Church of England, established by law, and contained in the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of Sacraments, is a corrupt, superstitious, or unlawful worship of God, or containeth anything in it that is repugnant to the scriptures; let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored, but by the bishop of the place, or archbishop, after his repentance, and public revocation of such his wicked errors.

V. Impugners of the Articles of Religion, as established in the Church of England, censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, That any of the nine and thirty Articles agreed upon by the archbishops and bishops of both provinces, and the whole clergy, in the convocation holden at London, in the year of our Lord God one thousand five hundred sixty-two, for avoiding diversities of opinions, and for the establishing consent touching true religion, are in any part superstitious or erroneous, or such as he may not with a good conscience subscribe unto; let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored, but only by the archbishop, after his repentance, and public revocation of such his wicked errors.

VI. Impugners of the Rites and Ceremonies, established in the Church of England, censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, That the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, by law established, are wicked, anti-christian, or superstitious, or such as, being commanded by

lawful authority, men who are zealously and godly affected, may not with any good conscience approve them, use them, or, as occasion requireth, subscribe unto them; let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored till he repent, and publicly revoke such his wicked errors.

VII. Impugners of the Government of the Church of England by Archbishops, Bishops, &c., censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, That the government of the Church of England, under his majesty by archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, and the rest that bear office in the same, is anti-christian, and repugnant to the word of God; let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and so continue until he repent, and publicly revoke such his wicked errors.

VIII. Impugners of the form of Consecrating and Ordering Archbishops, Bishops, &c., in the Church of England, censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm or teach, That the form and manner of making and consecrating bishops, priests, and deacons, containeth anything in it that is repugnant to the word of God, or that they who are made bishops, priests, or deacons, in that form, are not lawfully made, nor ought to be accounted, either by themselves or others, to be truly either bishops, priests, or deacons, until they have some other calling to those divine offices; let him be excommunicated ipso facto, not to be restored until he repent, and publicly revoke such his wicked errors.

IX. Authors of Schism in the Church of England, censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter separate themselves from the communion of saints, as it is approved by the apostles' rules, in the Church of England, and combine themselves together in a new brotherhood, accounting the Christians, who are conformable to the doctrine, government, rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, to be profane, and unmeet to join with in Christian profession; let them be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored but by the archbishop, after their repentance, and public revocation of such their wicked errors.

X. Maintainers of Schismatics in the Church of England censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, That such ministers as refuse to subscribe to the form and manner of God's worship in the Church of England, prescribed in the Communion Book, and their adherents, may truly take unto them the name of another church not established by law, and dare presume to publish it, That this their pretended church hath of long time groaned under the burden of certain grievances imposed upon it, and upon the members thereof before mentioned, by the Church of England, and the orders and constitutions therein by law established; let them be excommunicated, and not restored until they repent, and publicly revoke such their wicked errors.

XI. Maintainers of Conventicles censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm or maintain, That there are within this realm other meetings, assemblies, or congregations of the king's born subjects, than such as by the laws of this land are held and allowed, which may rightly challenge to themselves the name of true and lawful churches; let him be excommunicated, and not restored, but by the archbishop, after his repentance, and public revocation of such his wicked errors.

XII. Maintainers of Constitutions made in Conventicles censured.

Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, That it is lawful for any sort of ministers and lay-persons, or of either of them, to join together, and make rules, orders, or constitutions in causes ecclesiastical, without the king's authority, and shall submit themselves to be ruled and governed by them; let them be excommunicated ipso facto, and not be restored until they repent, and publicly revoke those their wicked and anabaptistical errors.

OF DIVINE SERVICE, AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS.

XIII. Due Celebration of Sundays and Holy-days. All manner of persons within the Church of England shall