Conventicle Act (Denmark–Norway)

The Conventicle Act (Danish: Konventikelplakaten, Norwegian: Konventikkelplakaten) was a decree issued 13 January 1741 by King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway and forbade lay preachers from holding religious services – conventicles – without the approval of the local Lutheran priest.

[3] Among the pietists, conventicles were a foundation of religious life, and prayer and Bible studies were led in the home by laypeople.

Pietism put a heavy emphasis on individual faith, and in such a way that it could threaten the unity of the Danish state church.

It turned out, however, that stricter legislation was needed to keep the more radical Pietists in check, and this led to the above-mentioned decree in 1741.

In Denmark, the decree was in practice overruled by Christian VIII in 1839 under the influence of the awakenings [da] (religious gatherings), stating that priests should take a more moderate approach towards the groups.

"[6] In 1833, jurist Søren Anton Wilhelm Sørenssen made a proposal to the Storting (parliament) that the Norwegian Constitution allow the freedom of religion.