Antidisestablishmentarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antidisestablishmentarianism

is a political position that originated in 19th-century Britain in opposition to proposals for the disestablishment of the Church of England, that is, to remove the Anglican Church's status as the state church of England, Ireland and Wales. The word was used by William Gladstone in 1838 in his Church and State, though he changed his position with age, leading to the Irish Church Act 1869 under his administration.



The establishment was maintained in England, but in Ireland the Church of Ireland (Anglican) was disestablished in 1871. In Wales, four Church of England dioceses were disestablished in 1920, subsequently becoming the Church in Wales.



The term has largely fallen into disuse. The question of disestablishment of the Church of England is still current, often tied with the position of the English monarch as "Supreme Governor" of the Church (see Act of Settlement 1701), but there is no popular demand for disestablishment.

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