Anti‐Catholic laws were passed for England and Wales until 1605, treating promotion of Catholicism as treason rather than heresy, and in the late 17th century (see RECUSANCY, ENGLAND AND WALES). (Executions were by hanging rather than burning.) In Scotland from 1560, the saying and hearing of Mass were punishable; more anti‐Catholic laws and proclamations were issued into the 17th century, and extra disabilities imposed from the later 17th century (e.g., 1700, comprehensive anti‐popery Act barred inheritance of property). In the 18th century enforcement of some measures declined, and prohibitions were eventually removed, despite popular opposition, initially to legalize recruitment for the ARMY (Relief Acts for England and Wales 1778, 1791; for Scotland 1793).
Anti‐Catholicism was expressed notably in fears of Catholic coups or risings in the 1640s, during the POPISH PLOT and EXCLUSION CRISIS (1678–81), and in JACOBITE times (1689–1745); and also in riots (e.g., GORDON RIOTS, 1780; Stockport Riots, 1852; ‘Murphy Riots’ in various English towns, 1867–8, provoked by anti‐Catholic preacher William Murphy). It was strengthened by the seeming Romanism of RITUALISM in the Church of England (from 1840s). Anti‐Catholicism also excited political controversy (e.g., over MAYNOOTH GRANT, 1845). The establishment of a Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales (1850) was branded ‘papal aggression’, and provoked the Ecclesiastical Titles Act (1851) banning territorial titles (replaced 1871). Irish immigration made sectarianism significant in LIVERPOOL (from 1830s) and GLASGOW. Protestants associated Catholicism with authoritarianism, Protestantism with liberty. Although anti‐Catholicism declined in the 20th century, it remained pronounced in parts of Scotland in the 21st century. See also CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION, IMPACT ON BRITISH POLITICS.
ANTI‐CATHOLIC LEGISLATION, ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALESsee RECUSANCY, ENGLAND AND WALES; ANTI‐CATHOLICISM, BRITAINANTI‐CATHOLIC LEGISLATION, IRELAND, 1691 TO 1740s
After Catholic forces were defeated in the WILLIAMITE WAR (1688–91), laws were passed (some violating the treaty of LIMERICK) which denied Catholics political power, minimized their threat to the State, and stifled the Catholic Church. They helped to secure the PROTESTANT ASCENDANCY, i.e., the domination of Ireland by Protestant (Church of Ireland) landed and professional families, which lasted formally until 1800.
Catholics were excluded from the Irish House of Commons by England's Parliament; from Dec. 1691 it required members to repudiate Catholic doctrines and the Pope's claimed power to depose a monarch. (The terms were also applied to public offices.) But qualified Catholics could continue to vote in elections.
From 1695 the Irish Parliament passed anti‐Catholic Acts, known as ‘Popery Laws' or ‘Penal Laws'. The Disarming Act (1695) forbade Catholics to keep weapons or a horse worth more than £5. The Education Act (1695) prohibited Catholics from keeping or teaching in schools. The BANISHMENT ACT (1697) banned bishops and religious orders. The Act to Prevent the Growth of Popery (or ‘Popery Act’, 1704) prohibited Catholics from buying land or from leasing it for more than 31 years. It also imposed partible inheritance (division of land between sons) unless the eldest conformed to the Church of Ireland. An Act of 1709 required Catholic clergy to take an oath of abjuration (denying the Stuart claim to the throne); it was largely ineffective. Catholic peers were excluded from the House of Lords in 1716, and the few remaining Catholic voters lost their franchise in 1729. Later legislation banned Catholic lawyers from practising at the Irish bar (1733) and disallowed ‘mixed marriages' (1745). Land legislation was strictly enforced, other Acts less so.
The last attempt at major legislation took place in 1748 (defeated in Lords). From the 1750s Catholic groups organized campaigns against restrictions. See also CATHOLIC RELIEF AND EMANCIPATION, IRELAND.
ANTI‐CORN LAW LEAGUEA pioneering pressure group founded by businessmen in MANCHESTER, England, in 1839 to agitate for FREE TRADE, particularly repeal of the protective CORN LAWS. Led by Richard COBDEN and John BRIGHT, the League staged mass meetings throughout Great Britain, distributed pamphlets and lobbied MPs. It disbanded after achieving its main objective (1846).ANTI‐VIVISECTIONISMVivisection (experiments on living animals) was criticized in Great Britain from the 18th century. As experiments proliferated, Frances Cobbe (1822–1904) campaigned against vivisection from 1863. In 1875 a royal commission was appointed, and Cobbe founded the Victoria Street Society in London to intensify pressure. The Cruelty to Animals Act of 1876 introduced licensing for vivisection. In 1897 Cobbe’s society was renamed the National Anti‐Vivisection Society; it agreed to accept increased controls on vivisection prior to abolition. Cobbe responded by founding the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (1898). Both societies continued in the 21st century, along with other anti‐vivisection organizations. See also SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.ANTONINE WALLA Roman defensive wall across the FORTH–CLYDE ISTHMUS in N Britain (modern Scotland). It was built after c.142 at the instigation of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (138–61), replacing HADRIAN'S WALL as the formal northern limit of ROMAN BRITAIN. It consisted of turf laid on a stone foundation. Punctuated by forts, it was 37 mi (60 km) long. The wall’s history is uncertain: the evidence suggests that it was probably abandoned gradually in favour of Hadrian's Wall in the later 150s or 160s.APPEALS, ACT IN RESTRAINT OFIn England, legislation by the REFORMATION PARLIAMENT, promoted by Thomas CROMWELL, passed in April 1533. It described England as an ‘Empire’, meaning that all jurisdiction depended on the king. It banned appeals to the papal court in Rome concerning matrimony, testaments and tithes, effectively removing England (and Wales) from papal jurisdiction. The Act enabled the first marriage of King HENRY VIII to be annulled without subsequent appeal to the Pope. See also GREAT MATTER; REFORMATION, ENGLAND.APPEASEMENT
The policy of negotiation and concession adopted by the British government towards GERMANY, ITALY and JAPAN in the 1930s. It aimed to prevent war by satisfying grievances within legally binding arrangements. Examples include: the ANGLO‐GERMAN NAVAL AGREEMENT (June 1935), HOARE–LAVAL PACT (Dec. 1935), and Munich Agreement (Sept. 1938; see MUNICH CRISIS). Great Britain also accepted Japanese conquest of Manchuria (1931) and acquiesced in German occupation of the Rhineland (1936), absorption of Austria (13 March 1938), and invasion of CZECHOSLOVAKIA (15 March 1939). Overt appeasement ended with the ANGLO‐POLISH GUARANTEE (31 March 1939).
Appeasers were influenced by popular PACIFISM. Some thought the treaty of VERSAILLES (1919, following WORLD WAR I), too harsh. Others wanted disengagement from Continental Europe. The GREAT DEPRESSION hindered rearmament against the threat from Nazi Germany. Britain also felt uneasy about confronting three potential enemies simultaneously.
Appeasement has been defended for securing necessary ‘extra time’ for rearmament before the outbreak of WORLD WAR II (Sept. 1939). It has also been damned as a shameful attempt to buy peace at others’ expense. Many historians think it was the only realistic strategy for an overstretched power. See also CHAMBERLAIN, NEVILLE; HALIFAX, VISCOUNT; DAWSON, GEOFFREY; CHURCHILL, WINSTON; EDEN ANTHONY.
APPELLANTS
Name given initially to three English MAGNATES – the duke of Gloucester (Thomas of Woodstock), earl of Arundel (Richard FitzAlan), and earl of Warwick (Thomas Beauchamp) – who ‘appealed’ against five favourites of King RICHARD II at a royal Council on 17 Nov. 1387. Later joined by the earl of Derby (Henry Bolingbroke) and earl of Nottingham (Thomas Mowbray), they defeated a royalist army at Radcot Bridge (Oxfordshire) on 20 Dec. and had the favourites convicted for TREASON in the MERCILESS PARLIAMENT (1388).
Richard took revenge from 1397: Gloucester was murdered in CALAIS, Arundel was executed, and Warwick was exiled (Sept.); Bolingbroke and Nottingham were banished (1398). But soon afterwards Bolingbroke overthrew Richard (see HENRY IV).
APPROPRIATION OF CHURCHES, ENGLAND
Appropriation was the legal transfer of a church’s revenues from its incumbent priest to a religious corporation, usually a monastery which already possessed the church. It was widespread in the 1180s–1230s to