The Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (

25 Hen. 8 25 Hen. 8 The fifth session of the 5th Parliament of King Henry VIII (the Reformation Parliament), which met at Westminster from 15 January 1534 until 30 March 1534. This session was also traditionally cited as 25 H. 8. Note that cc. 23&ndas ...

. c. 21), also known as the Dispensations Act 1533, Peter's Pence Act 1533 or 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 England, great council of Lords Spi ...

. It was passed by the

English Reformation Parliament The English Reformation Parliament, which sat from 3 November 1529 to 14 April 1536, established the legal basis for the English Reformation, passing major pieces of legislation leading to the break with Rome and increasing the authority of the ...

in the early part of 1534 and outlawed the payment of

Peter's Pence Peter's Pence (or ''Denarii Sancti Petri'' and "Alms of St Peter") are donations or payments made directly to the Holy See of the Catholic Church. The practice began under the Saxons in Kingdom of England, England and spread through Europe. Both ...

and other payments to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. 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 as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonly are DD (Doctor of Div ...

as an academic degree.

History

was originally an annual tribute of one

penny A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is ...

from each householder owning a land of a certain value to the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

and had been collected in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

since the reign of

King Alfred Alfred the Great ( ; – 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 both died when ...

. 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 Stanford E. Lehmberg (1931 – June 14, 2012) was an American historian and professor. Early life and schooling Stanford E. Lehmberg was born in McPherson, Kansas on 23 September 1931. Lehmberg's father was a Kansas dealer in farm implements, who ...

that it was deliberately mentioned in the Aat because it was theoretically paid by

laymen In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. ...

and thus might have seemed more intolerable than payments affecting

clerics Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

only. The Act abolished Peter's Pence and all other payments to Rome and accorded to the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

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 othe ...

, confirmed by the

Great Seal of the Realm The Great Seal of the Realm is a seal that is used in the United Kingdom to symbolise the sovereign's approval of state documents. It is also known as the Great Seal of the United Kingdom (known prior to the Treaty of Union of 1707 as the Gr ...

, 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 m ...

which had been exempt from the Archbishop's

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

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

Upper House An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

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 (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano 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 most unfortunate o ...

. 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 ...

to the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

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 belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, 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 (c. 52) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act implemented recommendations contained in the first report on statute law revision made by the Law Commission. The enactments which were re ...

Section 1

Section 1 of the act was repealed by section 1 of, and part II of the schedule to, the

Section 2

Section 2 of the act was repealed by section 1 of, and part II of the schedule to, the

Section 5

Section 5 of the act (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 section 7 of the act were repealed by section 4(a) of the

Statute Law Revision Act 1948 The Statute Law Revision Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 62) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 5(3) of the Statute Law Revision Act 1950 provided that this act, so far as it repealed chapter 34 of the Statute of West ...

Section 11

As to section 11 of the act, 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

Section 15 of the act was repealed by section 1 of, and part II of the schedule to, the

Section 16

Section 16 of the act was repealed by section 13 of, an
Part I
of Schedule 4 to, the

Criminal Law Act 1967 The Criminal Law Act 1967 (c. 58) 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. ...

Section 19

This section was repealed by the

Section 20

Section of the act was repealed by the

Section 21

Section 21 of the act was repealed by section 1 of, and part II of the schedule to, the

Section 22

Section of the act was repealed by the

Section 23

Section 23 of the act 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 E ...

( 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

The act was repealed for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

by section
2(1)
an

of, an

of Schedule 2 to, the

Statute Law Revision Act 2007 The Statute Law Revision Act 2007 is an Act of the Oireachtas of Ireland which repealed a large amount of pre-1922 legislation of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom while preserving a shorter list of statutes. The Act was t ...

Notes

References

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

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Me ...

External links

*{{UK-LEG, path=aep/Hen8/25/21
List of repeals in the Republic of Ireland
from the

Irish Statute Book The Irish Statute Book, also known as the electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB), is a database produced by the Office of the Attorney General of Ireland. It contains copies of Acts of the Oireachtas and statutory instruments.

. Peter's Acts of the Parliament of England 1533 Acts of the Parliament of England concerning religion Acts of the Parliament of England still in force 1534 in law 1534 in England 1534 in Christianity