{{Short description|Title held by the British Monarch}} {{Use British English|date=May 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox official post | post = Supreme Governor | body = the<br />Church of England | native_name = | image = King Charles III (July 2023).jpg | imagesize = 165px | alt = | incumbent = [[Charles III]] | acting = | incumbentsince = 8 September 2022 | department = [[Church of England]] | style = [[Majesty|His Majesty]] | type = | status = | abbreviation = | member_of = | reports_to = | residence = [[Buckingham Palace]] | seat = | nominator = | appointer = | appointer_qualified = | termlength = | termlength_qualified = | constituting_instrument = [[Act of Supremacy 1558]] | precursor = [[Supreme Head of the Church of England]] | formation = 1558 | first = [[Elizabeth I]] | last = | abolished = | succession = | unofficial_names = | deputy = | salary = | website = }} The '''Supreme Governor of the Church of England''' is the [[titular head]] of the [[Church of England]], a position which is vested in the [[British monarch]].<ref name="monarchtoday">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080307003413/http://www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page4708.asp ''The Monarchy Today'', "Queen and Church of England"].</ref> Although the monarch's authority over the Church of England is largely ceremonial and is mostly observed in a symbolic capacity,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blackburn |first1=Robert |editor-last1=Lepsius |editor-first1=O. |editor-last2=Nußberger |editor-first2=A. |editor-last3=Schönberger |editor-first3=C. |editor-last4=Waldhoff |editor-first4=C. |editor-last5=Walter |editor-first5=C. |title=The Constitutional Role and Working of the Monarchy in the United Kingdom |journal=Jahrbuch des öffentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart |date=2022 |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=181–201 |doi=10.1628/joer-2022-0009 |url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/167996669/The_Constitutional_Role_and_BLACKBURN_2022_GREEN_AAM.pdf |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> the position is still relevant to the [[established church]]. As the supreme governor, the monarch formally appoints high-ranking members of the church on the advice of the [[prime minister of the United Kingdom]], who in turn acts on the advice of the [[Crown Nominations Commission]].<ref name="monarchtoday"/> Since the [[Act of Settlement of 1701]], all Supreme Governors have been members of the Church of England.
== History == By 1536, King [[Henry VIII]] had broken with the [[Holy See]], seized assets of the [[Catholic Church in England and Wales]] and declared the [[Church of England]] as the [[Christian state|established church]] with himself as its [[Supreme Head of the Church of England|supreme head]]. The [[Act of Supremacy 1534]] confirmed the king's status as having supremacy over the church and required the [[Peerage|peer]]s to swear an oath recognising Henry's supremacy.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia: Henry Viii">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07222a.htm|encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |title=Henry VIII|publisher=New Advent |last1=Thurston |first1=H |date= 1910 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510212748/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07222a.htm |archive-date= May 10, 2023 }}</ref> Henry's daughter [[Mary I]] attempted to restore the English Church's allegiance to the [[Pope]] and repealed the Act of Supremacy in 1555.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09766a.htm |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |title= Mary Tudor |publisher=New Advent |last1=Thurston |first1=H |date= 1910 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925065215/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09766a.htm |archive-date= Sep 25, 2023 }}</ref> [[Elizabeth I]] ascended to the throne in 1558, and the [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] restored the original Act by passing the [[Act of Supremacy 1558]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.hanover.edu/texts/engref/er79.html|title=Elizabeth's Supremacy Act |date=April 1559 |website=Hanover Historical Texts Collection |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107190247/https://history.hanover.edu/texts/engref/er79.html |archive-date= Jan 7, 2023 }}</ref> To placate critics, the [[Oath of Supremacy]], which peers were required to swear, set the monarch's title as ''supreme governor'' rather than ''supreme head'' of the restored Church of England. This wording avoided the charge that the monarchy was [[Imperial_cult|claiming divinity]] or subordinating [[Jesus of Nazareth]] (whom the [[New Testament|Christian Bible]] explicitly identified as the [[head of the Church]] in the [[Epistle to the Ephesians]]).<ref>Ephesians 5:23</ref>
"[[Defender of the Faith]]" (''Fidei Defensor'') has been part of the English—and since the union of Scotland and England, the British—monarch's title since Henry VIII was granted it by [[Pope Leo X]] in 1521 in recognition of Henry's role in opposing the [[Protestant Reformation]].<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia: Henry Viii"/> The pope withdrew the title, but it was later reconferred by Parliament in the reign of [[Edward VI]].
===Thirty-Nine Articles=== The monarch's role is acknowledged in the preface to the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] of 1562. It states that:
{{quote|Being by God's Ordinance, according to Our just Title, Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church, within these Our Dominions, We hold it most agreeable to this Our Kingly Office, and Our own religious zeal, to conserve and maintain the Church committed to Our Charge, in Unity of true Religion, and in the Bond of Peace ... We have therefore, upon mature Deliberation, and with the Advice of so many of Our Bishops as might conveniently be called together, thought fit to make this Declaration following ... That We are Supreme Governor of the Church of England ... }}
Article 37 makes this claim to [[royal supremacy]] more explicit:
{{quote|The Queen's Majesty hath the chief power in this Realm of England, and other her Dominions, unto whom the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm, whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil, in all causes doth appertain, and is not, nor ought to be, subject to any foreign Jurisdiction. ... [We] give not to our Princes the ministering either of God's Word, or of the Sacraments ... but only that prerogative, which we see to have been given always to all godly Princes in holy Scriptures by God himself; that is, that they should rule all estates and degrees committed to their charge by God, whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal, and restrain with the civil sword the stubborn and evildoers. The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://acl.asn.au/the-thirty-nine-articles/|title=The Thirty Nine Articles : Anglican Church League, Sydney, Australia}}</ref>}}
== Church of Scotland == The British monarch vows to uphold the constitution of the [[Church of Scotland]] (a [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] [[national church]]), but does not hold a leadership position in it. Nevertheless, the monarch appoints the [[Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland]] as their personal representative, with a ceremonial role. [[Elizabeth II]] on occasion filled the role personally, as when she opened the [[General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|General Assembly]] in 1977 and 2002 (her [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Silver]] and [[Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Golden Jubilee]] years).<ref>{{cite news |work=BBC News |title=Royal thanks at church assembly |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2007449.stm |date=25 May 2002|access-date=14 June 2025}}</ref>
==List of supreme governors== ===English=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Name ! Years ! Notes |- |[[Henry VIII]] |1531–1547 |As '''supreme head'''. |- |[[Edward VI]] |1547–1553 |As '''supreme head'''. With [[Thomas Cranmer]], authorised the [[Book of Common Prayer]]. |- |[[Mary I]] and [[Philip II of Spain|Philip]] |1553–1555 |As '''supreme head''' (from 1554 the couple omitted the title, without statutory authority until authorised by Parliament in 1555). Promoted the [[Catholic Reformation]] in England and Wales. |- |[[Elizabeth I]] |1558–1603 |See [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement]]. |- |[[James VI and I|James I]] |1603–1625 |See [[James VI and I and religious issues]]. Authorized the [[King James Version]] of the Bible. |- |[[Charles I of England|Charles I]] |1625–1649 | Canonised martyr of the Church of England. |- |[[Interregnum (England)|''Interregnum'']] |''1649–1660'' | |- |[[Charles II of England|Charles II]] |1660–1685 |Converted to [[Catholicism]] [[Deathbed conversion|on his deathbed]]. |- |[[James II of England|James II]] |1685–1688 |Last [[Catholic]] to hold the position; he only held it as statutory authority. |- |[[Mary II]] |1689–1694 |Reigned jointly with her husband (and cousin) [[William III of England|William III]]. |- |[[William III of England|William III]] |1689–1702 |At first reigned jointly with [[Mary II]], 1689–1694. [[Calvinist]]. |}
===British===
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Name ! Years ! Notes |- |[[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]] |1702–1714 |Raised an Anglican.{{sfn|Curtis|1972|page=28}} During her reign, the [[Acts of Union 1707]] merged England and Scotland to form the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]. Since then, monarchs also swear to preserve the [[Church of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Queen, the Church and other faiths |url=https://www.royal.uk/the-queen-the-church-and-other-faiths |website=Royal.UK |access-date=1 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713165550/https://www.royal.uk/the-queen-the-church-and-other-faiths |archive-date=13 July 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Married to the [[Lutheran]] [[Prince George of Denmark]]. |- |[[George I of Great Britain|George I]] |1714–1727 |[[Elector of Hanover|Elector]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. First Protestant in the line set forth by the [[Succession to the Crown Act 1707]]. Lutheran. |- |[[George II of Great Britain|George II]] |1727–1760 |Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheran. |- |[[George III]] |1760–1820 |Head of the Lutheran Church in Hanover. Creation of the [[United Church of England and Ireland]] in 1800. |- |[[George IV]] |1820–1830 |[[Catholic emancipation]] enacted by the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]]. |- |[[William IV]] |1830–1837 | |- |[[Queen Victoria|Victoria]] |1837–1901 |The [[Church of Ireland]] was [[Disestablishmentarianism|disestablished]] by the [[Irish Church Act 1869]]. |- |[[Edward VII]] |1901–1910 | |- |[[George V]] |1910–1936 |The [[Church in Wales]] was disestablished by the [[Welsh Church Act 1914]]. |- |[[Edward VIII]] |1936 |Pressured to [[Abdication of Edward VIII|abdicate]], formalised by the [[His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936]]. |- |[[George VI]] |1936–1952 | |- |[[Elizabeth II]] |1952–2022 |Longest-serving, at 70 years. |- |[[Charles III]] |2022–present | |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== * {{cite book |last=Curtis |first=Gil |title=The Life and Times of Queen Anne |date=1972 |place=London |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=0-2979-9571-5 |ol=5457893M}}
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