Test Acts were statutes passed by the English Parliament in 1673 and 1678. These laws restricted the political activities of people who were not members of the Church of England. The name Test Acts comes from the law’s requirement that all people who wished to hold civilian or military office or positions of public trust fulfill certain conditions, or tests. These tests included swearing allegiance to the English Crown, declaring that one did not believe in the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, and receiving Communion in the Church of England. The Test Acts were aimed at Protestant Nonconformists and Roman Catholics. The acts were repealed in a series of laws passed between 1828 and 1871.
