Act of Supremacy

The Act of Supremacy was a law passed in 1534 in England that declared the king, Henry VIII, as the supreme head of the Church of England, replacing the Pope’s authority. This allowed the king to control religious doctrine and practices in England, breaking away from the Catholic Church’s influence. The act was part of the wider English Reformation, enabling the king to assert political and religious independence, and it required English citizens to acknowledge the monarch’s supremacy. Those who refused faced penalties, reinforcing the shift in religious and political power from the Pope to the monarchy.