Taxes on knowledge

Slogan used in a long-running campaign against duties on newspapers, their advertising content and the paper they were printed on.

Bubble Act 1720

An Act of the Parliament of Great Britain to prohibit the formation of new joint-stock companies unless approved by royal charter.

Murder Act 1752

Act of parliament of England and Wales to increase the horror of being executed for murder by expediting the process and denying the right to a decent burial.

Militia Ordinance

Act of Parliament passed in 1642 allowing parliament to appoint military commanders without the king’s approval.

Socage

Form of tenure under English feudal property law.

Sponging house

A sponging house was a place of temporary confinement for those arrested for non-payment of a debt.

Act of Uniformity 1558


One of the Acts of Parliament collectively known as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. It introduced a Common Book of Prayer, and obliged everyone to attend their parish church every Sunday and on holy days. Those who refused were known as recusants.

Liber Poenitentialis

Set of 7th-century ecclesiastical laws applied to women – and only women – perfoming acts such as divination, raising storms, or murder by the use of magic.