Henry and the Pope
From Mr David Foster Sir: Charles FitzGerald (Letters, 21 Octo- ber) says 'with respect' that Melanie Phillips seems ignorant of history in that our monarchs since Henry VIII have been defenders not of the Protestant but of the Catholic faith. Alas, with equal respect, it is his knowledge of history that is defective.
While it is true that Pope Leo X's 1521 bull Ex Supernae conferred this title on the king in recognition of his treatise Assertio Septem Sacramentorum against Luther, it
LETTERS
was rescinded by Pope Paul III following the refusal of a divorce leading to the king's renunciation of papal authority. The pre- sent title was conferred by a Protestant par- liament in 1544 so that our monarchs ever since have indeed been defenders of the Protestant faith `by law established'.
David Foster
Ludlow, Shropshire
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