The Acts that wrote the Pope out of England

The Reformation took place over many decades in many countries, but in England, it mostly took two acts of Parliament.

Author

Stephen Turner
January 15, 2025

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The Reformation and split between the Catholic and Protestant Church spanned several decades from Martin Luther’s first publications in 1517 to well into the 1540s.

Henry VIII was originally a defender of Catholic doctrine, with his public protests against Luther earning him the title “:Defender of the Faith” from Pope Leo X in 1521.

But as Protestant thought gained favour among the intellectuals of Oxford and Cambridge, and more important, Henry sought a divorce from his first wife Catherine, things began to change.

The Acts of Supremacy were a series of laws that established the Church of England and made official the English monarch’s title as its head.

There were two different acts, in 1534 and later in 1558. as well as a separate act by the Irish Parliament in 1537. While none of these ever “ended” the Catholic church in England. they established the supremacy of the Church of England and permanently codified the monarch as its head — something that continues to this day.

Did you know?

While most anti-Catholic laws in England were removed by the early 19th century,. the British monarch or their spouse cannot have been Catholic at any point in time.