medieval-atlas/the-church/397

Transcription

The Restoration to the Revolution Between 1666 and 1685 the privy council processed 541 cases of illegal preaching which involved the citation -often mUltiple -of 159 ministers; that is, almost one-fifth of the Scottish clergy. Although a significant proportion (17.4%) of the radical ministry were from the west coast, a similar number came from the south of Scotland (J 7.1 %) and 40% were from the eastern synods of Fife and Lothian and Tweeddale. Moreover, the rate of ministerial prosecutions while numerically variable was proportionally consistent over Ross (0.6%) Moray (1.3%) !.......i=':::::! Perth (10.1%) Percentage of ministers cited for Wiventii I 1666-70 1671-75 1676-80 1681-85 1. Figures in brackets refer to the cumulative percentage of ministers cited in each synod, 1666-85. the four periods specified: for example, Lothian and Tweeddale had the highest rate of prosecutions compared to the other synods throughout the Restoration. Official interest in the suppression of conventicle preaching intensified during the latter half of the 1670s when two-thirds of the total number of ministers accused during the whole period were charged. This suggests that the government crackdown on the activities of the non-indulged clergy was a major contributing factor to the outbreak of the rebellion in 1679. 2. The privy council cited only 4 ministers for kms conventicle preaching prior to 1666 and none after 1685. o 25 50 75 100 , ,, , , , . 3. In 5.3% of the cases, no location is specified. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 milesConventicling: the clergy 1666 to 1685 MS 397

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