Supreme Head of the Church of England

Supreme Head of the
Church of England
Supreme Head of the; Church of England
	Flag of England and the Church of England
	Longest in office; Henry VIII; 1531 – 1547
	Church of England
Style	Majesty
Residence	Palace of Whitehall
Constituting instrument	Act of Supremacy of 1534
Precursor	None
Formation	1531
First holder	Henry VIII
Final holder	Mary I
Abolished	1555
Succession	Supreme Governor of the Church of England

The title of Supreme Head of the Church of England was created in 1531[1] for King Henry VIII when he first began to separate the Church of England from the authority of the Holy See and allegiance to the papacy, then represented by Pope Clement VII. The Act of Supremacy of 1534 confirmed the King's status as having supremacy over the church and required the nobility to swear an oath recognising Henry's supremacy.[1] By 1536, Henry had broken with Rome, seized assets of the Catholic Church in England and Wales and declared the Church of England as the established church with himself as its head. Pope Paul III excommunicated Henry in 1538 over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

Henry's daughter, Queen Mary I, a staunch Catholic, attempted to restore the English church's allegiance to the Pope and repealed the Act of Supremacy in 1555.[2] Her half-sister, Elizabeth I, took the throne in 1558 and Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy of 1558 that restored the original act.[3] The new Oath of Supremacy that nobles were required to swear gave the Queen's title as supreme governor of the church rather than supreme head, to avoid the charge that the monarchy was claiming divinity or usurping Christ, whom the Bible explicitly identifies as Head of the Church.

List of supreme heads

Name	Years	Notes
Henry VIII of England	1531–1547
Edward VI of England	1547–1553	With Thomas Cranmer, authorised the Book of Common Prayer.
Lady Jane Grey	1553	Reign's legitimacy is disputed.
Mary I of England and Philip	1553–1555	From 1554 the couple omitted the title, without statutory authority until authorised by Parliament in 1555. Promoted the Catholic Reformation in England and Wales.

References

"Henry VIII". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1910.
"Mary Tudor". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1910.
Gee, Henry; Hardy, William John, eds. (1896). "Elizabeth's Supremacy Act, Restoring Ancient Jurisdiction (1559), 1 Elizabeth, Cap. 1". Documents Illustrative of English Church History. New York: Macmillan: 442–458. Retrieved 23 March 2018.

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[cathenc-H8-1] "Henry VIII". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1910.

[2] "Mary Tudor". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1910.

[3] Gee, Henry; Hardy, William John, eds. (1896). "Elizabeth's Supremacy Act, Restoring Ancient Jurisdiction (1559), 1 Elizabeth, Cap. 1". Documents Illustrative of English Church History. New York: Macmillan: 442–458. Retrieved 23 March 2018.