The Proclamation by the Crown Act 1539 (31 Hen. 8 c. 8; also known as the Statute of Proclamations) was a law enacted by the

English Reformation Parliament The English Reformation Parliament, which sat from 3 November 1529 to 14 April 1536, was the English Parliament that passed the major pieces of legislation leading to the Break with Rome and establishment of the Church of England. In Scotland ...

of Henry VIII. It permitted the King to legislate by decree, ordering that "traditional"

proclamations A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...

(that is, any unable to impose the death penalty or forfeiture of goods) should be obeyed as "though they were made by act of parliament". In addition the act appointed machinery for their enforcement. G.R. Elton ''England Under The Tudors'' London: Methuen, 1955, revised edition 1974: Chapter VII The Tudor Revolution: 3 Parliament Sir

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family ...

called the Act "a statute, which was calculated to introduce the most despotic tyranny; and which must have proved fatal to the liberties of this kingdom, had it not been luckily repealed."Blackstone (1765-69) '' Commentaries on the Laws of England'', book 1, chapter 7 The Act was once considered to be the height of Henry VIII's despotism. The great efforts made by the King's chief minister,

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...

, when drafting the acts of this time show that he was aware of the importance of statute and Parliament. Cromwell's natural reaction to any problem of government was to draft a bill. However, there were times when an immediate decision or temporary policy was required without having to wait for Parliament. For example, in 1535 it was desired to prevent the export of currency from the realm; Cromwell insisted on finding a relevant statute, although he was relieved to hear from the judges that, in such matters, failing such a statute, the king had the power to issue a proclamation. Nevertheless, Cromwell felt unsatisfied, and hence the Act of 1539, designed to give general legal sanction to royal proclamations. Cromwell originally intended to allow the common-law courts to enforce these proclamations. However, opposition from the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

forced him instead to accept a council as nominated in the act. This council proved so incapable of doing the work that in 1547, when the Act was repealed, it made no difference to the legality of royal proclamations. Proclamations would continue to prove controversial, especially when it came to taxation in which it was seen as an arbitrary power, becoming one of the many reasons for the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...

. Restored Stuart attempts at emulating French absolutism through revival of proclamations would be a factor in causing the eventual Glorious Revolution, leading to the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...

that entrenched

Parliamentary sovereignty Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all ...

References

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The text of the act

References

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See also