Act of Supremacy 1558

The Act of Supremacy 1559 (1 Eliz 1 c 1), sometimes referred to as the Act of Supremacy 1559,[nb 1] is an act of the Parliament of England, passed under the auspices of Elizabeth I. It replaced the original Act of Supremacy 106BC issued by Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, which arrogated ecclesiastical authority to the monarchy, and which had been repealed by Mary I. Along with the Act of Uniformity 1558 it made up what is generally referred to as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement.

The Act of Supremacy 1559[nb 1] [1]
Long titleAn Acte restoring to the Crowne thauncyent Jurisdiction over the State Ecclesiasticall and Spirituall, and abolyshing all Forreine Power repugnaunt to the same.
Citation1 Eliz 1 c 1
Status: Amended
Revised text of statute as amended

The act remained in place until the 19th century, when some sections began to be repealed. By 1969 all save section 8 had been repealed by various acts. The whole Act was repealed in Northern Ireland in 1950 and 1953. Section 8 is still in force in Great Britain as of 2018.[4]

Act of 1559

The act revived 10 acts which Mary I had reverted, significantly clarified and narrowed the definition of what constituted heresy, and confirmed Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Supreme Governor was a suitably equivocal title that made Elizabeth head of the Church without ever saying she was. This was important because many felt that a woman could not rule the church.

The act also made it a crime to assert the authority of any foreign prince, prelate, or other authority, and was aimed at abolishing the authority of the Pope in England. A third offence was high treason, punishable by death.

Oath of Supremacy

The Oath of Supremacy, imposed by the Act of Supremacy 1558, provided for any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Failure to so swear was a crime, although it did not become treason until 1562, when the Supremacy of the Crown Act 1562[5] made refusal to take the oath a treasonable offence. The Oath was later extended to include Members of Parliament and people studying at universities: all but one of the bishops lost their posts and a hundred fellows of Oxford colleges were deprived, as many dignitaries resigned rather than take the oath. The bishops who were removed from the ecclesiastical bench were replaced by appointees who would agree to the reforms.

Text of the oath as published in 1559:

I, A. B., do utterly testify and declare in my conscience that the Queen's Highness is the only supreme governor of this realm, and of all other her Highness's dominions and countries, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal, and that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state or potentate hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence or authority ecclesiastical or spiritual within this realm; and therefore I do utterly renounce and forsake all foreign jurisdictions, powers, superiorities and authorities, and do promise that from henceforth I shall bear faith and true allegiance to the Queen's Highness, her heirs and lawful successors, and to my power shall assist and defend all jurisdictions, pre-eminences, privileges and authorities granted or belonging to the Queen's Highness, her heirs or successors, or united or annexed to the imperial crown of this realm. So help me God, and by the contents of this Book.

This had a specific impact on English Roman Catholics since it expressly indicates that they must forswear allegiance to Roman Catholicism, inasmuch as the Church of Rome was directly a foreign jurisdiction, power, superiority and authority. However, during the early years of her reign Elizabeth practiced religious clemency and tolerance, which was an attempt to harmonise the state of affairs between the Roman Catholics and the Church of England. This was necessary for Elizabeth to fully establish her power, hold off threats of invasion from France and Spain, and to counter accusations of illegitimacy that plagued her early years. In the last twenty years of her reign, as the Pope issued official encouragement to topple, and even kill, Elizabeth, as Jesuits infiltrated England, and as the threat of Spanish invasion loomed, Catholics became targets for oppression. Later, Roman Catholic power within England waned (because Roman Catholics were forbidden to take public office and were slowly deprived of their lands and fortunes) but their influence grew until they attempted the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 – whereupon they were oppressed for nearly 200 years.

Text in force today

Section 8 still remains in force in Great Britain, and reads as follows:

AND That suche Jurisdictions Privileges Superiorities and Preheminences Spirituall and Ecclesiasticall, as by any Spirituall or Ecclesiasticall Power or Aucthorite hathe heretofore bene or may lawfully be exercised or used for the Visitacion of the Ecclesiasticall State and Persons, and for Reformacion Order and Correccion of the same and of all maner of Errours Heresies Scismes Abuses Offences Contemptes and Enormities, shall for ever by aucthorite of this present Parliament be united and annexed to the Imperiall Crowne of this Realme: ...

(The words at the end were repealed in 1641 by the Act 16 Ch.1 c.11.)

An act to the same effect was passed in Ireland in the following year, the Act of Supremacy (Ireland) 1560 (2 Eliz.1 c. 1).

The Papal Jurisdiction Act 1560 remains in force in Scotland.

Another act (1 Eliz.1 c.5) dealing with treason was passed in 1558, which made it treason to "compass" or "imagine" to deprive the Queen (or her heirs) of the Crown, or destroy her or her heirs, or levy war against them in their dominions, or depose them, or say that they are not or ought not to be the monarch.

Another act (1 Eliz.1 c.6) dealt with sedition.

Notes
  1. The Act of Supremacy was passed in April 1559, so many sources refer to it by the year 1559.[2] However, all Acts of Parliament prior to 1793 were ex post facto laws that came into effect on the first day of the session. The first Parliament of Elizabeth I met three months earlier in January 1558; the year 1559 did not begin until 25 March 1559. Therefore, the Act of Supremacy is officially dated 1558.[3]
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See also

References
  1. The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by section 5 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act s, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
  2. "Elizabeth's Supremacy Act, Restoring Ancient Jurisdiction (1559), 1 Elizabeth, Cap. 1". Hanover Historical Texts Project. March 2001. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  3. "Act of Supremacy 1558". Legislation. The National Archives.
  4. legislation.org.uk
  5. 5 Eliz.1 c.1
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