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User:Jfhutson/Decalogue boards

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Decalogue boards from St Mary's Church, Preston St Mary, possibly dated to the reign of Edward VI[1]

Decalogue boards are displays listing the Ten Commandments in Reformed churches. During the Protestant Reformation, many churches replaced art now considered idolatrous with religious texts, often the Ten Commandments. The Commandments were sometimes accompanied by the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer.[2]

England

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In the English Reformation, Decalogue boards emphasized the power of the state over the church.[3] Queen Elizabeth I issued a proclamation in 1560 which had the crucifix and statues of Mary and John removed from the chancel screens of churches, to be replaced by decalogue boards.[4] In the seventeenth century, Puritans painted over some of them, as they considered even them inappropriate visual displays. Some were reinstalled by Evangelicals in the eighteenth century, but many were removed again in the ninteenth century by Anglo-Catholics associated with the Oxford Movement.[3]

France

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Painting of the Temple de Charenton-le-Pont [fr]

Most Huguenot temples had decalogue boards.

References

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  1. ^ Knott, Simon. "St Mary, Preston". Suffolk Churches.
  2. ^ "Décalogues ou Tables de la Loi". Musée virtuel du Protestantisme (in French).
  3. ^ a b Watts, James W. (2004). "Ten Commandments Monuments and the Rivalry of Iconic Texts" (PDF). Journal of Religion & Society. 6: 4.
  4. ^ Lane, Lewis Calvin, III (2010). Finding Elizabeth: history, polemic, and the Laudian redefinition of conformity in seventeenth century England (PhD thesis). University of Iowa. pp. 15–16.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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