Schism Act

The Schism Act (13 Ann., c. 7) was a 1714 Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act stipulated that anyone who wished to keep a public or private school, or act as tutor, must first be granted a licence from a bishop. Also, he must conform to the liturgy of the Church of England and to have taken in the past year the rites of that Church. The Act was aimed against Dissenter schools (dissenting academies), but on the day the Act was due to come into force, Queen Anne died and the Act was never enforced. Upon the Hanoverian succession in 1714 and the subsequent supremacy of the Whig party, the Act was repealed by the Religious Worship Act 1718.