Crown of Ireland Act 1542

Last updated
Crown of Ireland Act 1542
Kingdom Ireland.svg
Long title An Act that the King of England, his Heirs and Successors, be Kings of Ireland
Citation 33 Hen 8 c. 1
Territorial extent 
Other legislation
Amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Short Titles Act (Northern Ireland) 1951
Repealed by Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act, 1962 (ROI)
Revised text of statute as amended

The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 [1] is an Act that was passed by the Parliament of Ireland (33 Hen. 8 c. 1) on 18 June 1542, which created the title of "King of Ireland" for monarchs of England and their successors; previous monarchs had ruled Ireland as Lords of Ireland. The first monarch to hold the title was King Henry VIII of England.

Contents

The long title of the Act was "An Act that the King of England, his Heirs and Successors, be Kings of Ireland". Among the 18th-century Irish Patriot Party it was called the Act of Annexation. [2]

Background

The pope in 1171 abolished the High Kingship of Ireland (of 9th-century origin, successor to the Kingship of Tara) and devalued the ancient Kingdoms of Ireland.

Under Laudabiliter , a papal bull, the ancient realm was disestablished and turned into a feudal province of the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church under the temporal power of the monarch of England who henceforth held the title Lord of Ireland, relinquishing to the papacy the annual tribute levied upon the nobility and people of Ireland.

The Act was passed in the Parliament of Ireland, meeting in Dublin, on 18 June 1542, being read out to parliament in English and Irish. [3]

Further developments in the 16th century

The secession of various European rulers during the Protestant Reformation, including Henry VIII, prompted the papacy to initiate the Counter-Reformation. One consequence of this was that the papacy required all Roman Catholic rulers to consider Protestant rulers (and their loyal subjects) as heretics, thus making their realms illegitimate under customary Roman Catholic international law.[ citation needed ] Consequently, the title "King of Ireland" was not initially recognised by Europe's Catholic monarchs and the papacy. Instead, they remained committed in considering Ireland a feudal fief of the papacy, to be granted to any Catholic sovereign who managed to secure the island Kingdom from the control of its Protestant monarchs.

After the death of Henry VIII's only legitimate son, Edward VI, the throne passed to his oldest daughter, Mary I, who was a devout Roman Catholic. Mary shortly thereafter married Philip of Spain, who was also staunchly Catholic. The new monarch restored papal authority in both England and Ireland. However, the status of Ireland as a kingdom remained in question: would the papacy recognise Ireland's existence as a kingdom in its own right or maintain some fiction of temporal papal power in the land? To rectify this, Pope Paul IV issued a papal bull in 1555, Ilius, per quem Reges regnant, recognising Philip and Mary as King and Queen of England and its dominions including Ireland. Although this did not explicitly recognise Ireland as a kingdom, it represents the surrender of most of the papacy's declared authority over Ireland, elevating it from a mere province of the Holy See to one that united Ireland's and England's crowns in one person. [4]

Mary died without issue in 1558, and the thrones of England and Ireland passed to her half-sister, Elizabeth I, who was a Protestant. Once again, both Kingdoms were removed from papal authority. In reply, Pope Pius V issued a papal bull in 1570, Regnans in Excelsis , declaring "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" to be a heretic and releasing all her subjects from any allegiance to her and excommunicating any that obeyed her orders.

Subsequent developments

Over the course of the next two centuries, the papacy and Europe's Catholic rulers continued to recognise Ireland as a kingdom in its own right, whilst at the same time asserting its Protestant monarchy as illegitimate.[ citation needed ] Simultaneously, they would incite Catholic rebellion to Protestants in the island as a means of recovering Ireland to a Catholic sovereign, preceding the establishment of a Catholic sovereign on the English and Scottish thrones.[ citation needed ] In reply, British diplomacy concentrated on receiving the recognition of the sovereignty of Ireland from Catholic Europe in the hope of thereby ending future Catholic sovereign incitements of the larger Catholic peasantry and securing the western flank of Great Britain from Catholic invasion.[ citation needed ]

William III (King Billy of Orange), the Duke of Schomberg and the Pope William III, the Duke of Schomberg and the Pope.jpg
William III (King Billy of Orange), the Duke of Schomberg and the Pope

In 1690, Pope Clement XI endorsed the protestant King William III's campaign to defeat the remaining Jacobite forces on the island. [5]

Until 1801, Ireland continued to exist as a Kingdom in its own right, with its own Parliament. The government of Ireland, however, remained exclusively Protestant, even after Grattan's constitution came into effect in the 1780s. Most of the country's population remained Catholic, but its Protestant minority remained socially, politically, and economically dominant; and even many Protestants were excluded from power as not being members of the established Church of Ireland. The Penal Laws preserving the position of the Protestant Ascendancy began to be dismantled in the 1780s and 1790s. However, fear of revolutionary violence in the wake of the French Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars and subsequent republican Irish Rebellion of 1798 led the British government to seek the union of Ireland with Great Britain; this resulted in the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The 20th century

As a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty that ended the Irish War of Independence, Ireland left the United Kingdom in 1922 and became the Irish Free State, a mostly self-governing Dominion that still retained the British monarch as its head of state. Northern Ireland, having been partitioned from what would become the Irish Free State by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, remained in the United Kingdom, with its own parliament and devolved system of government. Despite these fundamental changes, the 16th-century Act remained unamended on the statute books.

From a British perspective, the Irish Free State became legislatively independent with the passage in the British parliament of the Statute of Westminster 1931. However, the Irish Free State considered itself legislatively independent before its passage and did not recognise its legal situation as having changed. The country thereafter shared the person of its monarch with the United Kingdom and the other Dominions of the then-called British Commonwealth.

The Irish Free State adopted a new constitution in 1937 with a president, while the Irish monarchy which had been retained for external relations was abolished in Irish law by The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 in 1949. Though no longer effective, the Tudor Act remained on the Republic's statute books until formally repealed in 1962. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarchy of the United Kingdom</span>

The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Francis Edward Stuart</span> Jacobite pretender (1688–1766)

James Francis Edward Stuart, nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs and the King over the Water by Jacobites, was the son of King James VII and II of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales from July 1688 until, just months after his birth, his Catholic father was deposed and exiled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James II's Protestant elder daughter Mary II and her husband William III became co-monarchs. The Bill of Rights 1689 and Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Catholics such as James from the English and British thrones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarchy of Ireland</span> Historical method of government in Ireland

Monarchical systems of government have existed in Ireland from ancient times. In most of Ireland, this continued until 1949, when it transitioned to being the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, remains under a monarchical system of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acts of Union 1800</span> Acts of the Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland which united those two Kingdoms

The Acts of Union 1800 were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The acts came into force between 31 December 1800 and 1 January 1801, and the merged Parliament of the United Kingdom had its first meeting on 22 January 1801.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Ireland</span> English and British client state (1542–1800)

The Kingdom of Ireland was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from 1542 to the end of 1800. It was ruled by the monarchs of England and then of Great Britain, and was administered from Dublin Castle by a viceroy appointed by the English king: the Lord Deputy of Ireland. Aside from brief periods, the state was dominated by the Protestant English minority. The Protestant Church of Ireland was the state church. The Parliament of Ireland was composed of Anglo-Irish nobles. From 1661, the administration controlled an Irish army. Although styled a kingdom, for most of its history it was, de facto, an English dependency. This status was enshrined in Poynings' Law and in the Declaratory Act of 1719.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lordship of Ireland</span> Territory in Ireland owned by the Holy See, but under Lordship of the English Crown

The Lordship of Ireland, sometimes referred to retrospectively as Anglo-Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between 1177 and 1542. The lordship was created following the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–1171. It was a papal fief, granted to the Plantagenet kings of England by the Holy See, via Laudabiliter. As the Lord of Ireland was also the King of England, he was represented locally by a governor, variously known as the Justiciar, Lieutenant, Lord Lieutenant or Lord Deputy.

In English history, praemunire or praemunire facias refers to a 14th-century law that prohibited the assertion or maintenance of papal jurisdiction, or any other foreign jurisdiction or claim of supremacy in England, against the supremacy of the monarch. This law was enforced by the writ of praemunire facias, a writ of summons from which the law takes its name.

Defender of the Faith is a phrase that has been used as part of the full style of many English, Scottish, and later British monarchs since the early 16th century. It has also been used by some other monarchs and heads of state.

Regnal numbers are ordinal numbers used to distinguish among persons with the same name who held the same office. Most importantly, they are used to distinguish monarchs. An ordinal is the number placed after a monarch's regnal name to differentiate between a number of kings, queens or princes reigning the same territory with the same regnal name.

The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the English monarchs as the head of the Church of Ireland. The 1534 Act declared King Henry VIII and his successors as the Supreme Head of the Church, replacing the Pope. This first Act was repealed during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I. The 1558 Act declared Queen Elizabeth I and her successors the Supreme Governor of the Church, a title that the British monarch still holds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of England</span> State from the early 10th century to 1707

The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the early 10th century, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until May 1, 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, which would later become the United Kingdom. The Kingdom of England was among the most powerful states in Europe during the medieval and early modern colonial periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesaropapism</span> System with state control of the Church

Caesaropapism is the idea of combining the social and political power of secular government with religious power, or of making secular authority superior to the spiritual authority of the Church; especially concerning the connection of the Church with government. Although Justus Henning Böhmer (1674–1749) may have originally coined the term caesaropapism (Cäseropapismus), it was Max Weber (1864–1920) who wrote that "a secular, caesaropapist ruler ... exercises supreme authority in ecclesiastic matters by virtue of his autonomous legitimacy." According to Weber, caesaropapism entails "the complete subordination of priests to secular power."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Ireland</span> Former parliament of Ireland

The Parliament of Ireland was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Lords were members of the Irish peerage and bishops. The Commons was directly elected, albeit on a very restricted franchise. Parliaments met at various places in Leinster and Munster, but latterly always in Dublin: in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Chichester House (1661–1727), the Blue Coat School (1729–31), and finally a purpose-built Parliament House on College Green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Succession to the British throne</span> Law governing who can become British monarch

Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible.

The precise style of the British sovereign has varied over the years. It is chosen and officially proclaimed by the sovereign. In 2022, King Charles III was proclaimed by the Privy Council to have acceded to the throne with the style:

Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tudor conquest of Ireland</span> 1536–1603 English campaign in Ireland

The Tudor conquestof Ireland took place during the 16th century under the Tudor dynasty, which ruled the Kingdom of England. The Anglo-Normans had conquered swathes of Ireland in the late 12th century, bringing it under English rule. In the 14th century, the effective area of English rule shrank markedly, and from then most of Ireland was held by native Gaelic chiefdoms. Following a failed rebellion by the Earl of Kildare in the 1530s, the English Crown set about restoring its authority. Henry VIII of England was made "King of Ireland" by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542. The conquest involved assimilating the Gaelic nobility by way of "surrender and regrant"; the confiscation and colonization ('plantation') of lands with settlers from Britain; imposing English law and language; banning Catholicism, dissolving the monasteries and making Anglican Protestantism the state religion.

Although in the past the style of British Emperor has been (retroactively) applied to a few mythical and historical rulers of Great Britain, Ireland or the United Kingdom, it is sometimes used as a colloquialism to designate either Plantagenet and Tudor caesaropapism or, more frequently, the British sovereign of the Empire of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland</span> Territorial evolution of the UK

The formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has involved personal and political union across Great Britain and the wider British Isles. The United Kingdom is the most recent of a number of sovereign states that have been established in Great Britain at different periods in history, in different combinations and under a variety of polities. Historian Norman Davies has counted sixteen different states over the past 2,000 years.

The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English administration at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage was known as the King's Great Matter. Ultimately Pope Clement VII refused the petition; consequently, in order to give legal effect to his wishes, it became necessary for the King to assert his lordship over the Catholic Church in his realm. In passing the Acts of Supremacy in 1534, the English Parliament confirmed the King's supremacy over the Church in the Kingdom of England. This challenge to Papal supremacy resulted in a breach with the Catholic Church. By 1541, the Irish Parliament had agreed to the change in status of the country from that of a Lordship to that of Kingdom of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of monarchy in the United Kingdom</span> History of monarchy in the UK

The history of the monarchy of the United Kingdom and its evolution into a constitutional and ceremonial monarchy is a major theme in the historical development of the British constitution. The British monarchy traces its origins to the petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and early medieval Scotland, which consolidated into the kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century. Anglo-Saxon England had an elective monarchy, but this was replaced by primogeniture after England was conquered by the Normans in 1066. The Norman and Plantagenet dynasties expanded their authority throughout the British Isles, creating the Lordship of Ireland in 1177 and conquering Wales in 1283. In 1215, King John agreed to limit his own powers over his subjects according to the terms of Magna Carta. To gain the consent of the political community, English kings began summoning Parliaments to approve taxation and to enact statutes. Gradually, Parliament's authority expanded at the expense of royal power.

References

  1. Short title as conferred in Northern Ireland by the Short Titles Act (Northern Ireland) 1951; the Act lacks a short title in the Republic of Ireland.
  2. Grattan, Henry (1822). "Regency: Feb. 11, 1789". The Speeches of the Right Honourable Henry Grattan in the Irish, and in the Imperial Parliament. Vol. II. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. p. 114. Retrieved 22 February 2016. The act of Henry VIII., commonly called the act of annexation, proves and ascertains what the member's arguments would deny, the existence, properties, and prerogatives of the Irish crown.; A Review of Mr. Grattan's Answer to the Earl of Clare's Speech (PDF). Vol. Part the first. Dublin: J. Milliken. 1800. p. 6. What by a bold flight of imperialism we now denominate the Act of Annexation, (33d Hen. VIII. c. 1.) was in truth no more than an alteration in the Royal style.
  3. Moody, T. W.; et al., eds. (1989). A New History of Ireland. 8: A Chronology of Irish History. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-821744-2.
  4. "Crown of Ireland Act 1542". Heraldica. 25 July 2003. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  5. "Pope supported the Protestant King William". independent. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  6. The Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act 1962, section 1 and Schedule Archived 11 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine .