The First Succession Act of Henry VIII's reign was passed by 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 ...

in March 1534. The Act was formally titled the Succession to the Crown Act 1533, or the Act of Succession 1533; it is often dated as 1534, as it was passed in that calendar year. However, the legal calendar in use at that time dated the beginning of the year as March 25, and so considered the Act as being in 1533.

Provisions

The Act made

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, daughter of Henry VIII by

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

, who had been born on 7 September 1533, the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the Crown by declaring

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, daughter of Henry VIII by Catherine of Aragon, a bastard. The Act also required all subjects, if commanded, to swear an

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

to recognize this Act as well as the king's supremacy. Under the

Treasons Act 1534 The Treasons Act 1534 ( 26 Hen. 8. c. 13) was an Act of the Parliament of England passed in 1534, during the reign of King Henry VIII. Background This Act was passed after the Act of Supremacy 1534, which made the king the " Only Head of the Ch ...

anyone who refused to take the oath was subject to a charge of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

. The Act was later altered by the

Second Succession Act The Second Succession Act was a piece of legislation passed by the Parliament of England in June 1536, during the reign of Henry VIII. Provisions The Second Succession Act was formally titled An Act concerning the Succession of the Crown, an ...

, which made Elizabeth illegitimate, and the

Third Succession Act The Third Succession Act of King Henry VIII's reign, passed by the Parliament of England in July 1543, returned his daughters Mary and Elizabeth to the line of the succession behind their half-brother Edward. Born in 1537, Edward was the son o ...

, which returned both Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession.

Bibliography

* Cannon, John Ashton. ''The Oxford Companion to British History''. 1st ed. Oxford [England: Oxford UP, 1997. Print. * Gardiner, Juliet, and Neil Wenborn. ''The Columbia Companion to British History''. New York: Columbia UP, 1997. Print. * Haigh, Christopher. ''English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors''. 1st ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1993. Print. * Loades, David. ''Henry VIII Court, Church and Conflict''. National Archives, 2007. Print. * Ridley, Jasper Godwin. ''Henry VIII''. New York, NY: Viking Penguin, 1985. Print. * * Viorst, Milton. ''The Great Documents of Western Civilization''. Philadelphia: Chilton, 1965. Print.

External links

Full text of the Act
{{UK legislation 1534 in law 1534 in England Acts of the Parliament of England (1485–1603), Act of Succession Succession to the British crown, Succession to the Crown Act 1533 Succession acts Mary I of England sv:Engelska successionsakten

Provisions

See also

Bibliography

External links