The Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 ( 25 Hen 8 c 21), also known as the Act Concerning Peter's Pence and Dispensations, is an Act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

. It was passed 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 ...

in the early part of 1534 and outlawed the payment of Peter's Pence and other payments to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The Act remained partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. It is under section III of this Act, that the Archbishop of Canterbury can award a

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...

as an academic degree.

History

Peter's Pence was originally an annual tribute of one penny from each householder owning a land of a certain value to the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

and had been collected in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

since the reign of

King Alfred Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who ...

. In the twelfth century it was fixed at an annual sum of £200 for the whole realm. It was not the largest payment to Rome but it is argued by Stanford Lehmberg that it was deliberately mentioned in the Act because it was theoretically paid by laymen and thus might have seemed more intolerable than payments affecting clerics only. The Act abolished Peter's Pence and all other payments to Rome and accorded to the Archbishop of Canterbury the power to issue dispensations formerly given by the Pope. The fees which might have been charged for the dispensations were set and required

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

, confirmed by the Great Seal of the Realm, in matters for which the usual fee was over £4. On the 12 March 1534 the Commons passed the Bill and were possibly responsible, argues Lehmberg, for the clauses which claimed that the Act should not be read as a decline from the "very articles of the catholic faith of Christendom". A clause in the Bill gave the Crown the power to conduct visitations of

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

which had been exempt from the Archbishop's

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

and forbade English clergy from visiting religious assemblies abroad. When the Bill came to the

Upper House An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

some clauses were added in the second and third reading. The Bill was passed on the 20 March after the fourth reading and after the Commons assented to the new clauses immediately. On the final day of the session, however, one more clause was added: the King would have the power at any period before 24 June to abrogate the complete Act or just a section of it as he so wished. Lehmberg puts forth the idea that Henry VIII still wanted some leverage in bargaining with the Pope after the French King recently attempted to reconcile Henry with

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

. The final clause was never used as the French mission did not succeed.

Provisions

Preamble

The preamble is noteworthy because it is written in the form of a petition from the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

to the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and is one of the first mentions of a "papal usurpation" and because it reasserts the theory that

has "no superior under

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

, but only your Grace". It also claims that the authority of the King's "imperial crown" is diminished by "the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions" of the Pope. The preamble was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of th
Schedule
to, the

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It implemented recommendations contained in the first report on statute law revision made by the Law Commission. The enactments which were repealed (whether ...

Section 1

This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the

Section 2

This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the

Section 5

This section (which amongst other things had the effect of requiring faculties to be registered by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery) does not apply in relation to any faculty granted to a public notary.

Section 7

The words at the end of this section were repealed by section 4(a) of the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.

Section 11

As to this section, se
section 5
of the Public Notaries Act 1843. In this section (which relates to refusal of archbishop to grant licences etc.) any reference to the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal (however expressed) is to be read as a reference to the Chancellor of the High Court. The Chancellor of the High Court may nominate another judge of that court to exercise his functions under this section.

Section 15

This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the

Section 16

This section was repealed by section 13 of, an
Part I
of Schedule 4 to, the

Criminal Law Act 1967 The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made some major changes to English criminal law, as part of wider liberal reforms by the Labour government elected in 1966. Most of it is still in force. Territ ...

Section 19

This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.

Section 20

This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.

Section 21

This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the

Section 22

This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.

Section 23

This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the

Saving

The repeal by the

of section 2 of the

Act of Supremacy 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 En ...

(1 Eliz 1 c 1) (1558) does not affect the continued operation, so far as unrepealed, of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533.The

section 4(2)
/ref>

Repeal in the Republic of Ireland

This Act was repealed for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

by section
2(1)
an

of, an

of Schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 2007.

Notes

References

*Stanford E. Lehmberg, ''The Reformation Parliament, 1529 - 1536'' (Cambridge University Press, 1970). * Halsbury's Statutes,

External links

The Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533
as amended, from the National Archives.
List of repeals in the Republic of Ireland
from the Irish Statute Book. {{UK legislation Peter's Acts of the Parliament of England still in force 1534 in law 1534 in England 1534 in Christianity