A Handy Guide to Recusancy in England

While looking for something else, I found this website, which offers an excellent guide to all the laws and events of the Recusant or Penal era in England:

The period of Roman Catholic persecution is often referred to as the ‘Penal Times’ and lasted from 1534 to 1778. Throughout these years Catholics and other nonconformists suffered varying degrees of persecution which generated useful genealogical records. Although the measures were often harsh, many anti-Catholic laws were not always strictly enforced. After the restoration of Charles II in 1660 Protestant recusants became known as nonconformists.

The Catholic Relief Acts of 1778 and 1791 and The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 ended the discrimination and granted freedom to Catholics.

Timeline of Roman Catholic Persecution and Tolerations
1534 Act of Supremacy. Henry VIII assumed authority over religious matters in England.
1552 Second Act of Uniformity. Attendance at Church of England services made compulsory.
1559 Third Act of Uniformity. The Act imposed a fine of 12d on people who refused to attend Anglican worship at their parish church and banned the celebration of Catholic mass. The fines imposed in the 1559 Act of Uniformity for failure to attend church were collected by churchwardens and so do not appear in the central government records and details of those fined will be found amongst quarter session records
1563 The death penalty was imposed on priests who said mass. It was also forbidden to defend papal supremacy and those that did, were liable to have their property seized by the authorities. . . .

In addition to the acts passed by Parliament through the centuries, the timeline also lists events that exacerbated the persecution and prosecution of Catholics: The Babington Plot, the Spanish Armada, The Gunpowder Plot, etc. 

Very handy; I've bookmarked it among my favorites and shared it here so I--and you--can always find it!!

While I'm sharing resources, here's another great one: from the Diocese of Salford, England, a list of English confessors and martyrs.

Image above: the executions of Saints Edmund Campion, Alexander Briant, and Ralph Sherwin, December 1, 1581.