The Act of Uniformity 1551 (5 & 6 Edw 6 c 1), sometimes referred to as the Act of Uniformity 1552, was an Act of the Parliament of England.
It was enacted by Edward VI of England to supersede his previous Act of 1549.(Bray:281) It was one of the last steps taken by the 'boy king' and his councillors to make England a more Protestant country before his death the following year. It replaced the Book of Common Prayer authorised by the Act of Uniformity 1549 with a revised and more clearly Protestant version. Cranmer, the principal author of both the 1549 and 1552 versions of the liturgy maintained that there was no theological difference between the two.(MacCulloch:87)
Anyone who attended or administered a service where this liturgy was not used faced six months imprisonment for a first offence, one year for a second offence, and life for a third. This Act was repealed by Mary in 1553.
Read more about Act Of Uniformity 1552: Liturgical Changes Effected, Mary I's Reforms and Elizabeth I's Restorations, Repeal
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