Today in 1534 the English Parliament accepted the First Act of Supremacy and acknowledged Henry VIII as the Head of the Church of England. The way it was worded, it was acknowledged as an accepted fact, rather than something that Parliament was giving to Henry, and could thus take away. The act declared that the king was “the only supreme head on Earth of the Church of England” and that the English crown shall enjoy “all honours, dignities, preeminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said dignity.” Henry appointed himself and his successors as the supreme rulers of the English church.
This would be the start of the English Reformation in law, and was followed three years later with an Irish supremacy act that outlined Henry as the head of the church in Ireland as well.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested link:
Episode 088: The Henrician Reformation
From my shop:
Henry VIII Collection
Featuring: Henry VIII “But First, Coffee,” mug
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
