Act of Supremacy 1559
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| Long title | An Acte restoring to the Crowne thauncyent Jurisdiction over the State Ecclesiasticall and Spirituall, and abolyshing all Forreine Power repugnaunt to the same. |
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| Citation | 1 Eliz 1 c 1 |
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Status: Amended
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| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Act of Supremacy (1 Eliz 1 c 1), also referred to as the Act of Supremacy 1558, is an Act of the Parliament of England, passed under the auspices of Queen Elizabeth I of England. It replaced the original Act of Supremacy 1534 issued by Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, which arrogated ecclesiastical authority to the monarchy, and which had been repealed by Mary I of England. Along with the Act of Uniformity 1558 it made up what is generally referred to as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. (The Acts were actually passed in 1559, but Parliamentary convention was to date Acts according to the year in which Parliament began to sit, rather than the date of Royal Assent.)
The Act remained in place until all save section 8 was repealed by section 1 Part II of the Schedule to the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969.
This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010.
The Act revived 10 acts which Mary 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.
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