Acts of Supremacy

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1 First Act of Supremacy 1534
2 Second Act of Supremacy 1559
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] First Act of Supremacy 1534

The Act of Supremacy November 1534 (26 Hen. 8, c. 1) was an Act of the Parliament of England under King Henry VIII of England declaring that he was 'the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England' and that the English crown shall enjoy "all honours, dignities, preeminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said dignity".

Henry, who had been declared "Defender of the Faith" (Fidei Defensor) for his pamphlet accusing Martin Luther of heresy, was now confirmed as head of the Church in England. This made official the English Reformation that had been brewing since 1527, and caused a long-lasting distrust between England and the Roman Catholic Church. The act was a result of Henry's desire for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which Pope Clement VII had refused to grant. Another act caused any act of allegiance to the Pope (or any other non-Anglican religion, for that matter) to be considered treason.

This act was repealed in 1554 by Henry's daughter, Queen Mary I, who was a staunch Catholic.

[edit] Second Act of Supremacy 1559

Main article: Act of Supremacy 1559

The second Act of Supremacy was the reinstatement of the original Act of Supremacy 1534. However, Queen Elizabeth I was labeled Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The use of the term Supreme Governor as opposed to Supreme Head pacified Catholics and those protestants concerned about a female leader of the Church of England. Anyone who took public or church office was forced to take the Oath of Supremacy, and there were penalties for violating that oath. However, Elizabeth, who was a politique, did not prosecute nonconformists, or those who did not follow the established rules of the Church of England, unless their actions directly undermined the authority of the English monarch, as was the case in the vestments controversy.

As established by the Tudors, the consolidation of church and state under Royal Supremacy instigated political and religious strife in the succeeding centuries. This strife, along with similar struggles in Europe, was one reason why in many jurisdictions there is now a constitutional separation of church and state. In the United Kingdom, however, the Crown, through the government, still retains a significant involvement in the established Church of England.