Act of Toleration

The Act of Toleration was an act of the English Parliament (24 May, 1689) which granted freedom of worship to Nonconformists i.e., Protestants who dissented from the Church of England such as Baptists, Congregationalists, Quakers and Methodists.

It allowed Nonconformists their own places of worship and their own teachers and preachers, subject to acceptance of certain oaths of allegiance.

It deliberately did not apply to Catholics and Unitarians and continued the existing social and political disabilities for dissenters, including their exclusion from political office.

See also

• Freedom of religion
• Religion in the United Kingdom