Court of High Commission

The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastic court in England. One of its powers was to license plays for publication. It was instituted by the crown in the 16th century. John Whitgift, the Archbishop of Canterbury, obtained increased powers for the Court by the 1580s. He proposed and had passed the Seditious Sectaries Act 1593, thus making Puritanism an offence. The Court reached the height of its powers during the Reformation and was finally dissolved by the Long Parliament in 1641. The court was convened at will by the sovereign, and had near unlimited power over civil as well as church matters.