The
Reformation in England saw the established
Church of England break from communion with Rome but
Anglicanism retained an
episcopal polity and the same medieval cathedrals and dioceses, such as the
Archbishop of Canterbury and
Diocese of Lincoln. The
Reformation in Scotland proceeded differently, eventually with an established
Church of Scotland having a
presbyterian polity and a small tolerated Anglican
Scottish Episcopal Church. The
Reformation in Ireland formally followed the English model, with an established Anglican
Church of Ireland; but, unlike in England, most of the laity remained Roman Catholic.
Penal laws initially prevented any Roman Catholic bishops residing in Britain or Ireland;
Catholic emancipation from the late 18th century saw increased "toleration" of Catholicism. The
Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 removed most remaining disabilities but prohibited Roman Catholic bishops using the same diocesan names as Anglican ones. Although the
Acts of Union 1800 had united the established Churches of Ireland and England, both the 1829 and 1851 restrictions were ignored in Ireland, on the basis that the Roman Catholic dioceses had never lapsed, and papal appointees had continually retained the same pre-Reformation names used by the Anglican dioceses. (Some Protestants referred to Irish Roman Catholic bishops by the location of their cathedral rather than the title of the see, such as "Bishop of
Thurles" rather than "
Archbishop of Cashel", or "Bishop of
Queenstown" rather than "
Bishop of Cloyne".) Roman Catholic bishops appointed as
apostolic administrators in England were initially given
titular sees abroad; later they were given English titles, of places which were not Anglican sees. Thus they did not name the relevant see that of
Bristol, but that
of Clifton; not
Exeter, but
Plymouth; not Canterbury, but
Southwark. The selection of
Westminster as the title of the principal see in London, however, was nevertheless seen by critics as presumptuous for
Westminster Abbey had long been identified as a major centre of the Church of England. In 1850, in response to the Catholic emancipation legislation,
Pope Pius IX set up a hierarchy of dioceses in England and Wales in
Universalis Ecclesiae. This was met with widespread hostility, and many characterised it as an act of "papal aggression". Incited by anti-Catholic elements and indeed the prime minister himself, serious anti-Catholic riots took place in November 1850 in Liverpool and other cities. Nearly 900,000 Protestants petitioned the Queen to stop what they called "papal aggression".
Guy Fawkes day in 1850 saw numerous symbolic denunciations, and a handful of cases of violence. Public opinion and elite opinion also turned heavily against the
Oxford Movement (Tractarian movement) inside the Church of England, which led some very prominent figures to become Catholics. Tractarians were denounced as traitors burrowing inside the Anglican church. The Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1851 was passed in response, making it a criminal offence for anyone outside the Church of England to use any episcopal title "of any city, town or place, or of any territory or district (under any designation or description whatsoever), in the United Kingdom" e.g. Bishop of Anytown, and provided that any property passed to a person under such a title would be forfeit to the Crown. ==Repeal==