View example sentences and word forms for Recusants.
Recusants meaning
plural of recusant
Example sentences (7)
A devout Catholic, he married Gertrude Talbot, who was from a family of recusants.
Individuals William Shakespeare came from a family background of English Catholic recusants.
New Catholic Encyclopedia section on 'recusants' The term, which derives ultimately from the Latin recusare (to refuse or make an objection) Burton, E. (1911).
Roman Catholics formed a large proportion, if not a plurality, of recusants, and it was to Catholics that the term initially was applied.
The first statute to address sectarian dissent from England's official religion was enacted in 1593 under Elizabeth I and specifically targeted Catholics, under the title "An Act for restraining Popish recusants".
The plot was uncovered and most of the plotters, who were recusants or converts, were tried and executed.
Those of more moderate means had to pay two-thirds of their annual rental income; middle class recusants were fined one shilling a week, although the collection of all these fines was "haphazard and negligent".