On The System Of The Oath Of Supremacy In Tudor England (1534-1585)

The Oath of Supremacy in Tudor England was started in 1534,and institutionalizated in 1585.The King HenryⅦpromulgated "The Act of supremacy" in 1534,it ordained that the King is the Head of the church of England.And in the later years,a series of Acts which demanded People to take the oath of King's supremacy and excluded the authoriry of Pope were passed by the Parliament.A system of administeration was established as well.The system of the Oath of supremacy was succeeded by the King EdwardⅥ,but was repealed by the Queen MaryⅠ.It was not restored until the Queen ElizabethⅠ,the Queen is the Adminitrator of the Church.The establishment of the system of the Oath of Supremacy in Tudor England had a great impact:the religion was nationalized,the King's Supremacy was consolidated,and it was also the origin of the Mordern political Oath.The first Chapter described the background of the establishment of the supreme oath.When the "wars of the Roses" was over,The King HenryⅦestablished the Tudor dynasty in England which is called a beginning of New Monarchy.He quelled civil unrest,collected money for Royal and controled the Local gonernment.His Policy strengthened the power of Crown,and finally achieved "the King's Peace " in England. For a long time,there were some conflicts between the Crown and the Church and the Pope,especially in the revenue and naming of the bishop in England.And the religion reformation movement of Wycliffe in 14th century and the Refomation in Europe in 16th century affected the England.Although these,the government and church were equal in law,and maintaining a peace relationship each other for a long time.HenryⅦcould gain the thone,to a certain extent,benefited from the support of the Pope.HenryⅧwas once promoted as the Pope's "Guardian of the Christ".However,the Pope's denying of the HenryⅧ's divorce,caused a dramatic change between the Politic and religion in England.Henry was very angry,he declared that the England would sever relation with the Holy See and the Pope.And then he promulgated a series of Ecclesiastical laws to deprive the Pope's authority in England through the "Reformation Paliament".the Parliament passed the "Act of Supremacy" in 1534,which ordained that:England established a State religion—Anglican,the King was the Head of the Church,while the Pope did not have any jurisdiction in England,he would be only called the Bishop of Rome.And then the King controled the English ecclesiastical matters, and became the only supreme ruler in England.The second chapter analyzed the establishing of the system of the Oath of Supremacy in detail.In 1534,the "Act of Oath" was passed,which required all the subject to take the oath that they bear faith truth and obedience alonely to the King and to his heires of his body.Henry promulgated another two Acts relating the Oath of supremacy,the first was "the Act of Supremacy",in this Act,people should take the oath of King's supremacy,accept the King as the Head of the church and he was the ruler of both Civil State and the Church.The other Act was "An Act extinguishing the authorites of the Bishop of Rome",it demanded that people should not only recognize the supreme Crown,but also denied the jurisdiction of the Holy See and the Pope in England. In 1543,The "Act of succession " was passed,it summarized the laws of Oath of Supremacy which was aforementioned.HenryⅧappointed commissioners to execte the system of the Oath.People who dined would be High Treason and sentenced to death. The King EdwardⅥcontinued to use the Oath system of HenryⅧ,and promulgated a commission for the the committee.However,when the devout Catholic MaryⅠsucceed to the thone,she abolished the system of the supreme Oath.It was not restored untill the Queen ElizabethⅠ.The King was the highest "Governor",which was different from the "Head" of HenryⅧ.In the implementation,the Queen continued to use the form of committee,And in the 1570th the commission had been developed into "High Court of commission".On the whole,the system of the Oath of Elizabeth government was more tolerance than that of HenryⅧand EdwardⅥ.And then,the system of Oath of Supremacy in Tudor England had been estabished.The third chapter focused on the far-reaching consequences of the system of Oath of the Supremay.The State Religion—the Anglican was finally established.The Sate religion had syncretized both the reformed ideology and Catholic tradition,and then formed its own characters.The temporal monach became the ruler of the English Church. The Church was reduced to a agency of State,and the religion of England had been nationalized.The "Act of Supremacy" made the Tudor monarches the rulers of the church in paliament law,and the system of the Oath of Supremcy forced the people to accept this title.The monarches controled the Local tightly and abolished the foreign authority in England by the enforcement of the Oath system.As a result,the monarches consolidated their Crown.In England,ancient political Oath was a measure of declaration of the divine right of kings or the system of feudal grade.But the Mordern political Oath was not for those popures,it is a kind of Promise:In Sovereign State,people,especially public officer of Sate must deference the National Sovereignty.They should certain their duty for the Sate, matain the national independence,unity and stabilization.The system of the Oath of Supremacy had the characteristics of Secularity,publicness and Uniformity.After it,there came a series of political Oath in England,such as the Oath of Alligance,the Oath of abjuration.The system of the Oath of Supremacy was the origin of the Mordern Political Oath.