| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Acte for the exoneracion from exaccions payde to theSee of Rome.[b] |
|---|---|
| Citation | 25 Hen. 8. c. 21 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 30 March 1534 |
| Commencement | 15 January 1534[c] |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
| Relates to | Public Notaries Act 1843 |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
TheEcclesiastical Licences Act 1533[a] (25 Hen. 8. c. 21), also known as theDispensations Act 1533,Peter's Pence Act 1533 or theAct Concerning Peter's Pence and Dispensations, is anact of theParliament of England. It was passed by theEnglish Reformation Parliament in the early part of 1534 and outlawed the payment ofPeter's Pence and other payments toRome. The act remained partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010.[1] It is under section III of this act, that the Archbishop of Canterbury can award aLambeth degree as an academic degree.
Peter's Pence was originally an annual tribute of onepenny from each householder owning a land of a certain value to thePope and had been collected inEngland since the reign ofKing Alfred. 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 byStanford Lehmberg that it was deliberately mentioned in the act because it was theoretically paid bylaymen and thus might have seemed more intolerable than payments affectingclerics only.[2]
The act abolished Peter's Pence and all other payments to Rome and accorded to theArchbishop 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 requiredroyal assent, confirmed by theGreat 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".[3] A clause in the bill gave the Crown the power to conduct visitations ofmonasteries which had been exempt from the Archbishop'sjurisdiction and forbade English clergy from visiting religious assemblies abroad.
When the bill came to theUpper House 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 withPope Clement VII.[4] The final clause was never used as the French mission did not succeed.
The preamble is noteworthy because it is written in the form of a petition from theCommons to theKing and is one of the first mentions of a "papal usurpation" and because it reasserts the theory thatEngland has "no superior underGod, 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 words at the end of section 7 of the act were repealed by section 4(a) of theStatute Law Revision Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 62).
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.[5]
As to section 11 of the act, seesection 5 of thePublic Notaries Act 1843 (6 & 7 Vict. c. 90). In section 11 of the act (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.[6]
The repeal by theStatute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 of section 2 of theAct of Supremacy (1 Eliz. 1. c. 1) (1558) does not affect the continued operation, so far as unrepealed, of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533.[7]
Section 19, 20, 22 of the act were repealed by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, theStatute Law Revision Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 62).
Section 16 of the act was repealed by section 13 of, andPart I of schedule 4 to, theCriminal Law Act 1967.
The preamble to, and sections 1, 2, 15, 21 and 23 of, the act were repealed by section 1 of, and part II of theschedule to, theStatute Law (Repeals) Act 1969.
The act was repealed for theRepublic of Ireland by sections2(1) and3(1) of, andpart 2 of schedule 2 to, theStatute Law Revision Act 2007.