On 12 June 1701, the English Parliament passed an act to lay down the conditions for the succession to the throne of Great Britain. This has often been called the Act of Settlement or the Act of Settlement 1701. It was also extended to cover Scotland. Do you know why this act was passed?
William III and Mary II had ruled England as joint sovereigns. Then Mary II died without any children, and William III did not marry again until he died. The throne of England went to Mary’s sister Anne, who also did not have any heirs. Consequently, a new law was needed to make sure that the throne would continue to have a Protestant reign after Anne.
This was the background under which Parliament passed The Act of Settlement in 1701. The act laid down the conditions under which alone the crown could be held. No Roman Catholic, nor anyone married to a Roman Catholic, could hold the English Crown. The sovereign also had to swear to maintain the Church of England. The purpose of the Act was to ensure the Protestant succession to the throne, and to strengthen the parliament system of government.