ADVERTISEMENTS, BOOK OF

A set of instructions regulating the conduct of religious services, issued in 1566 by Matthew parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, as a means of securing uniformity in public worship. The legislation of 1559 had brought about a church compounded of Protestant doctrine and Catholic ceremonial. This compromise was abhorrent to the extreme Protestant reformers who wished to see a form of worship that was purified from all taint of popery (the so-called puritans). The Puritan dispute with the established church developed slowly. In its early stages it was concerned with the vestments prescribed for use by the Royal Injunctions of 1559, which the Puritans regarded as the "livery of Antichrist." Neither side was prepared to yield; the Puritan objections were grounded in conscience, and Elizabeth I refused to waive the exercise of her prerogative to regulate worship. Other items were, in time, added to the list of Puritan objections, such as the use of organs, the ring in the marriage service, the sign of the cross in Baptism, and other "dregs of popery." Sympathy with the Puritans was considerable; in 1563 articles embodying their objections were introduced into the lower house of convocation, where they were rejected by only one (proxy) vote.

The disorder prevailing in the church alarmed the Queen, and on Jan. 25, 1565, she instructed Parker to secure "one manner of uniformity through our whole realm" and to eradicate variety "by order, injunction, or censure according to the order and appointment of such laws as are provided by act of parliament." Accordingly, in March 1566, he issued a set of instructions, known as the Book of Advertisements, which laid down fixed rules for the conduct of public services. The delay in issuing the Advertisements was due to the fact that Parker had been anxious, in order to lessen his own difficulties, to obtain royal authority for them; this was, however, withheld by the Queen. From the outset they met with opposition. At a meeting held at Lambeth on March 26, 1566, to which more than 100 of the London clergy were summoned, 37 refused to comply with the Advertisements ; these men were suspended from office and then deprived. Nevertheless, they continued to preach and conduct services, and they may be regarded as the first English Nonconformists.

Bibliography: r. w. dixon, History of the Church of England, 6 v. (Oxford 1878–1902) v.5, 6. j. strype, The Life and Acts of Matthew Parker, 3 v. (Oxford 1821) v.1. v. j. k. brook, A Life of Archbishop Parker (Oxford 1962). h. gee and w. j. hardy, comps., Documents Illustrative of English Church History (London 1896) 467–475 (text). j. i. daeley, "Pluralism in the Diocese of Canterbury during the Administration of Matthew Parker, 1559–1575" Journal of Ecclesiastical History 18 (1967) 33–49. m. e. vander schaaf, "Archbishop Parker's Efforts Toward a Bucerian Discipline in the Church of England," Sixteenth Century Journal 8:1 (1977) 85–103. b.s. robinson, "'Darke Speech:' Matthew Parker and the Reforming of History," Sixteenth Century Journal 29:4 (1998) 1061–1083.

[g. de c. parmiter/eds.]