Test Acts

in English history, acts prescribing religious tests as a requisite for holding office. They were designed to prevent all but members of the established, that is to say, the Episcopal church, from holding office. The term applies more directly to two English statutes. The act of 1673 required magistrates to take oaths of allegiance to the crown, acknowledging the king or queen to be the lawful head of the church. This act was directed particularly at the Catholics, who recognized the pope only as the earthly head of the church.

The act of 1685 prescribed a similar oath for all offices both in the army and in the civil service. The acts had not been on the statute books very long before the public became ashamed of them. The acts were evaded. Persons not members of the Church of England took office, and Parliament passed an act annually pardoning them for doing so. In 1829 the acts were formally repealed.

The universities also had special tests which they imposed upon students applying for admission, and more particularly upon those who sought positions as instructors.