Act of Supremacy 1534

The Act of Supremacy was an English Act of Parliament (26 Hen. 8 c. 1), passed in November 1534, that declared King Henry VIII to be "the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England." After Pope Clement VII refused to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the Act severed the English Church from papal authority and vested all ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the Crown, making it a foundational statute of the English Reformation.

Source: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Act_of_Supremacy_1534 (PD-UKGov; Statutes of the Realm, vol. III, p. 492)

Editorial Note

King Henry VIII of England (r. 1509–1547) had sought to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536). Because the Pope would not annul the marriage, Henry sought to make himself Head of the Church in England. This Parliamentary Act from 1534 gave legal sanction to Henry's assumption of those clerical powers.

The Act

An Act concerning the King’s Highness to be Supreme Head of the Church of England and to have Authority to reform and redress all Errors, Heresies and Abuses in the same.

Albeit the king's Majesty justly and rightfully is and ought to be the supreme head of the Church of England, and so is recognized by the clergy of this realm in their convocations, yet nevertheless, for corroboration and confirmation thereof, and for increase of virtue in Christ's religion within this realm of England, and to repress and extirpate all errors, heresies, and other enormities and abuses heretofore used in the same, be it enacted, by authority of this present Parliament, that the king, our sovereign lord, his heirs and successors, kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted, and reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England, called Anglicana Ecclesia; and shall have and enjoy, annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm, as well the title and style thereof, as all honors, dignities, preeminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said dignity of the supreme head of the same Church belonging and appertaining; and that our said sovereign lord, his heirs and successors, kings of this realm, shall have full power and authority from time to time to visit, repress, redress, reform, order, correct, restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, offenses, contempts and enormities, whatsoever they be, which by any manner of spiritual authority or jurisdiction ought or may lawfully be reformed, repressed, ordered, redressed, corrected, restrained, or amended, most to the pleasure of Almighty God, the increase of virtue in Christ's religion, and for the conservation of the peace, unity, and tranquility of this realm; any usage, custom, foreign laws, foreign authority, prescription, or any other thing or things to the contrary hereof notwithstanding.

Source: Wikisource, "Act of Supremacy 1534" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Act_of_Supremacy_1534), transcribed from the Statutes of the Realm, vol. III, p. 492. The Act of Supremacy 1534 (26 Hen. 8 c. 1) is centuries old and in the public domain (PD-UKGov). Complete text — verified.