The Act of Supremacy is the name of two different acts passed by the English Parliament, both of which establish the English monarch as the head of the Church of England.
Explanation: The original act passed in 1534 at the request of Henry VIII, while the second act passed during the reign of Elizabeth I. The second act was necessary to reestablish the English monarch as head of the church, as Parliament had nullified the original one when she assumed the throne upon the death of Edward VI.
The original act essentially created the Church of England and severed church ties with Rome. With the passing of the Act of Supremacy, the Pope was no longer considered the leader of Christians in England. This act, however, was more of a political move than a religious one, even though it established Henry as “the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England.”
What was at stake was the succession of the monarchy. Although many of the common people and members of the English aristocracy were interested in the teachings of Martin Luther, Henry strongly opposed Luther’s “Ninety-five Theses” and wrote a book in 1521 denouncing Luther’s views that prompted Pope Clement VII to name Henry “The Defender of the Faith.”
Despite his lustful reputation, Henry VIII was a deeply religious man and believed that the wrath of God had descended upon him because of his inability to produce a living male heir with his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine had been betrothed to Henry’s elder brother, Arthur, who died before the two lived together as husband and wife. Henry pointed to Old Testament passage (Leviticus 20:21) that prohibited men from marrying their brother’s widow, indicating God was punishing him for an illegal marriage.
Henry went through the religious procedures of his time by seeking an annulment from Pope Clement VII. The Pope kept stalling the proceedings, partially because Catherine, who was already in her early forties, was the aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, whom the Pope did not want to offend. He had also fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, who was young enough to bear children.
In 1527, Henry asked for annulment for the first time and with each refusal, increased pressure on Rome. By 1529, he was thoroughly frustrated and cited the Bible verse from Leviticus and other Old Testament sources to support his cause. He also cited historical sources, including Anglo-Saxon documents that gave spiritual supremacy to the English monarch over the church.
The English church first recognized Henry as its head in 1531, but the king continued to try to reach a compromise with the Pope, all to no avail. In 1532, the English church agreed to surrender its independence as well as authority regarding canon law to the monarch.
This paved the way for the Statute in Restraint of Appeals in early 1533, which removed the ability of the English to appeal to Rome on matters of matrimony, tithes and oblations. By this time, Anne Boleyn was already pregnant with Henry’s child, so Thomas Cranmer, the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, declared the marriage to Catherine invalid, allowing Henry to marry Anne.
