Passing Legislation That Made Henry VIII the Supreme Head of the Church - Essay Example

As far as Henry VIII was concerned Parliament merely confirmed his position as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Henry VIII and his Chief Minister Thomas Cromwell argued that Parliament was confirming or re-confirming the monarch’s status as the Head of the Church of England because of how the unwritten English constitution worked at that point in time.

Passing legislation that made Henry VIII the Supreme Head of the Church had the advantage of claiming that the Papacy had erred and not Henry. The idea of being an Emperor -Pope along the lines of a Roman Caesar was certainly appealing to someone as egotistical as Henry VIII. The Act in Restraint of Appeals partially accepted the King's position as Supreme Head of both church and state, although it also upheld Cromwell's idea that the king- through Parliament controlled the church. Supremacy was a formal recognition of supremacy that already existed, whilst Cromwell believed that Parliament was needed to create royal supremacy. Henry now showed his grand pretensions by stating that he was restoring the imperial rights that had been deprived of him and his predecessors by the Papacy itself.

The nature and effect of the supremacy are of fundamental importance to obtain an understanding of how the English church was to develop. This was and would not be a Reformation from the bottom up or inspired by religious radicals. It was officially sanctioned Reformation from the top to the bottom. For anybody wishing to advance it further or halt it completely against official government policy was brave, devout, or foolish.
With the Act of Supremacy Henry had gained the right for himself and his heirs to have political, social, and religious control over the Church in England. The pace and direction of reforms thus came under the control of the state. The government therefore would only introduce reforms it considered politically expedient. An Act of Succession was also passed placing the children of the Boleyn marriage in the line of succession. Much to Henry's disappointment Anne had given birth to Elizabeth and not the son he wanted and changed so much to obtain. He was not to know that Elizabeth would reign longer than either Mary or Edward, and whilst maybe not as great as her reputation was certainly the most successful of his children. It became treason to deny the Supremacy, the order of Succession, and Anne's position as Queen, this legislation punished some devout Catholics both high ranking and low ranking.
The passing of the Act of Supremacy in 1534 meant that it became treason to attack the monarch's religious position, although, in theory, Parliament could amend any legislation involving the English church. In the reign of Henry VIII, very few members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords wanted to risk the king’s wrath by not passing the legislation he or his ministers requested.
Those who denied the supremacy or the succession and failed to swear the oath were traitors and faced execution. Notable victims of the King's supremacy included Bishop Fisher and Thomas More, both executed during 1535. More had not expressly denied the Supremacy but had expressed doubts about its validity. He expressed these doubts to Richard Rich in the tower, on 12 June 1535.
More argued that the Acts passed against the Catholic Church by the Reformation Parliament were not legal because they were not accepted by most of Europe. Read More