The Feoffees for Impropriation facts for kids

The Feoffees for Impropriations was a special group of people in England who worked to support Puritanism. They were active from 1625 to 1633.

Why the Feoffees Started

After the English Reformation, the Church of England tried to find a middle ground between Catholics and Protestants. This didn't make everyone happy. A group called the Puritans wanted to make the church simpler and more focused on the Bible.

When King Charles I became king, he and his main church leader, William Laud, wanted everyone to follow the Church of England's rules very strictly. Puritans felt this was unfair and tried to resist these changes.

In 1626, a meeting called the York House Conference was held to talk about these religious differences. A Puritan leader named John Preston presented the Puritan side. However, the king's advisor, the Duke of Buckingham, supported Laud's views.

Forming the Group

After the York House Conference, John Preston realized that the Puritans needed a new plan. He encouraged a group of Puritan lawyers, business people, and church leaders to create an organization. This group became known as the Feoffees for the Purchase of Impropriations.

The word "feoffee" means a trustee, someone who holds property for others. "Impropriations" were rights to church income or appointments that were owned by people who weren't church officials.

The Feoffees' main goal was to raise money. They used this money to buy these "impropriations" and "advowsons." An "advowson" was the legal right to choose who would become a minister in a church. By buying these rights, the Feoffees could then choose Puritan ministers for churches and special teaching positions called "lectureships." This helped more Puritan preachers get jobs and share their ideas.

The group had twelve trustees: four church leaders, four lawyers, and four merchants. They didn't get official permission from the king or Parliament. Over time, some trustees were replaced. The last chairman was Nicholas Rainton, who was the Lord Mayor of London.

What the Feoffees Did

The Feoffees collected money from donations. They also bought rights to "tithes," which were payments to the church, to get a steady income. Their main purpose was to help Puritan ministers find places to preach.

They bought the rights to appoint ministers and created new lectureship positions. They also gave money directly to Puritan ministers. The Feoffees were careful to only support ministers who shared their Puritan beliefs.

Because the Feoffees didn't have an official legal status as a company, individual trustees made the purchases. They bought many rights to appoint ministers, but they didn't get to appoint many before the authorities noticed what they were doing.

The Feoffees Are Stopped

In 1629, a university teacher named Peter Heylin gave a sermon criticizing the Feoffees. He said they were causing trouble in the church. Archbishop Laud believed the Feoffees were trying to secretly gain control over the clergy, which he thought was a threat to the king and the church.

Because of this, a lawyer named William Noy started a legal case against the Feoffees in court. The Feoffees argued that all the ministers they had appointed followed the rules of the Church of England.

However, in 1632, the court ordered the Feoffees for Impropriations to be shut down. All their money and property were taken by the king. King Charles I ordered that the money should be used to pay church ministers more or for other good causes that Puritans couldn't control. This legal action against the Feoffees was an early step in Laudianism, which was Archbishop Laud's strict way of running the church.

Later Attempts to Bring Them Back

When a new Parliament, called the Long Parliament, met after King Charles I had ruled alone for a while, some members of Parliament tried to undo the court's decision against the Feoffees.

In 1643, the House of Commons ordered the king to return the money he had taken. In 1648, the remaining trustees of the Feoffees got the House of Lords to formally cancel the old court order.

However, the Feoffees never started their activities again. This might be because England became a republic for a time, and their work was no longer seen as necessary. One of the trustees, John Marshall, left money and property in his will to build a new church. But the Feoffees were dissolved before this could happen. Later, in the late 1600s, new trustees were set up to manage the right to appoint ministers for this new church. This was the only lasting legacy of the Feoffees.