First Statute of Repeal

{{Short description|1553 act of the Parliament of England on religion}} {{Use British English|date=April 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = First Statute of Repeal | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Acte for the Repeale of certayne Statutes made in the time of the Reigne of Kinge Edwarde the Syxthe. | year = 1553 | citation = 1 Mar. Sess. 2. c. 2 | territorial_extent = England and Wales | royal_assent = 5 December 1553 | commencement = 24 October 1553{{efn|Start of session.}} | repeal_date = 7 July 1604 | amends = | replaces = {{ubli|Sacrament Act 1547|Election of Bishops Act 1547|Act of Uniformity 1548|Clergy Marriage Act 1548|Consecration of Bishops, etc. Act 1549}} | amendments = Act of Uniformity 1558 | repealing_legislation = Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1603 | related_legislation = Second Statute of Repeal | status = Repealed | original_text = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000017915519&seq=290 }}

The '''First Statute of Repeal''' was an act of the Parliament of England (1 Mar. Sess. 2. c. 2), passed in 1553 in the first Parliament of Mary I's reign, that nullified all religious legislation passed under the previous monarch, the boy-king Edward VI, and the ''de facto'' rulers of that time, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, and John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.

== Provisions == Section 1 of the act repealed 9 enactments, listed in that section, namely: * The Sacrament Act 1547 (1 Edw. 6. c. 1) * The Election of Bishops Act 1547 (1 Edw. 6. c. 2) * The Act of Uniformity 1548 (2 & 3 Edw. 6. c. 1) * The Clergy Marriage Act 1548 (2 & 3 Edw. 6. c. 21) * The Putting away of Books and Images Act 1549 (3 & 4 Edw. 6. c. 10) * The Consecration of Bishops, etc. Act 1549 (3 & 4 Edw. 6. c. 12) * The Act of Uniformity 1551 (5 & 6 Edw. 6. c. 1) * The Holy Days and Fasting Days Act 1551 (5 & 6 Edw. 6. c. 3) * The Clergy Marriage Act 1551 (5 & 6 Edw. 6. c. 12) Section 2 of the act provided that from and after 20 December 1553, divine services and administration of sacraments would be performed as used in the last year of the reign of Henry VIII (1547).

Section 3 of the act provided that divine services may be performed under the repealed acts before 20 December 1553.

== Legacy == The act was nullified by Elizabeth I's Act of Uniformity 1558 (1 Eliz. 1. c. 2), which stated that:

{{quote|''at the death of our late sovereign lord King Edward VI there remained one uniform order of common service and prayer, and of the administration of sacraments, rites, and ceremonies in the Church of England, which was set forth in one book, intituled: The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of Sacraments ''[...]'' the said statute of repeal, and everything therein contained, only concerning the said book, and the service, administration of sacraments, rites, and ceremonies contained or appointed in or by the said book, shall be void and of none effect''.<ref>[http://history.hanover.edu/texts/engref/er80.html Text of Elizabeth's Act of Uniformity, 1559]</ref>}}

The whole act was repealed by section 8 of Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1603 (1 Jas. 1. c. 25).

== Footnotes == {{Notes}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Acts of the Parliament of England 1553 Category:Acts of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) concerning religion Category:Repealed English legislation Category:Edward VI Category:John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland Category:Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Category:History of Christianity in the United Kingdom Category:Law about religion in the United Kingdom Category:Christianity and law in the 16th century Category:1553 in Christianity