THE TREASONS ACT 1534 ENFORCED THE ACT OF SUPREMACY.The Treasons Act 1534, was passed by the English Parliament soon after the first Act of Supremacy, also in 1534 had been made law, which declared that King Henry VIII, was the only Supreme Head on Earth, of the Church of England. Under this Act, it made it Treason, to disavow the Act of Supremacy and was punishable by death. It was for violating this Act that Sir Thomas More was tried, found guilty of high treason and executed on July 6th 1535. The Treasons Act specified the following and much more (please note: the capitalization is my own), but for our purposes we have limited it to only what concerns us. Be it therefore enacted by the assent and consent of our sovereign lord the king, and the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons in this present Parliament assembled and by authority of the same, that if any person or persons, after the first day of February next coming, DO MALICIOUSLY WISH, WILL, OR DESIRE, BY WORDS OR WRITING, OR BY CRAFT IMAGINE, INVENT, PRACTICE, OR ATTEMPT ANY BODILY HARM TO BE DONE OR COMMITTED TO THE KING'S MOST ROYAL PERSON, THE QUEEN'S, OR THEIR HEIRS APPARENT, OR TO DEPRIVE THEM OR ANY OF THEM OF THEIR DIGNITY, TITLE, OR NAME OF THEIR ROYAL ESTATES, OR SLANDEROUSLY AND MALICIOUSLY PUBLISH AND PRONOUNCE, BY EXPRESS WRITING OR WORDS, THAT THE KING OUR SOVEREIGN LORD SHOULD BE HERETIC, SCHISMATIC, TYRANT, INFIDEL OR USERPER OF THE CROWN, or rebelliously detain, keep, or withold from our said sovereign lord, his heirs or successors, any of his or their castles, fortresses. The main aim of this Act was to make it a treasonable offence and therefore punishable by death, for denying the King the title of Supreme Head on Earth, of the Church of England. It also ensured that the Act of Succession could be enforced, also under Pain of Death. The word 'maliciously' was added to inlude even thinking along those lines, or the evil intent towards an act. The Act also meant, that to say anything at all about the King, or anything against what he had done, was also punishable with death. It would now follow, that since England had broken with the Catholic Church and all the monasteries owed allegiance to the Pope, they could now be closed and all their wealth and assets, be seized and transferred to the Crown. The 1534 Treasons Act was repealed by the Treason Act 1547, in the first year of the reign of King Henry VIII's son Edward VI.
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