The Act Respecting the Oath to the Succession (26 Hen. 8 c. 2) was passed by the Parliament of England

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

 in November 1534, and required all subjects to take an oath to uphold the Act of Succession passed that March. It was later given the formal short title of the Succession to the Crown Act 1534.

The Act required all those asked to take the oath to recognise Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...

 as King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

's lawful wife and their children legitimate heirs to the throne. Anyone refusing to take the oath was guilty of treason.

The Oath of Succession itself went further than the original Act in several ways. It demanded that persons swearing the oath renounce the power of any "foreign authority or potentate" and repudiate any oath previously made to such an authority. This discrepancy did not go unnoticed by Sir Thomas More

Thomas More

Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...

 who claimed he had been sent to the Tower

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

 "for refusing of this oath not agreeable with the statute". He thought that Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex

Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540....

 and Thomas Audley

Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden

Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, KG, PC, KS , Lord Chancellor of England, born in Earls Colne, Essex, the son of Geoffrey Audley, is believed to have studied at Buckingham College, Cambridge...

 "did of their own heads add more words unto it" and therefore they were unable "by their own law ... to justify my imprisonment".

Refusal to take the oath led to the arrests of Sir Thomas More

Thomas More

Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...

 and Bishop John Fisher

John Fisher

Saint John Fisher was an English Roman Catholic scholastic, bishop, cardinal and martyr. He shares his feast day with Saint Thomas More on 22 June in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and 6 July on the Church of England calendar of saints...

 for treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

 in 1534. They refused to take the oath because it included the abjuration of the pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 and claimed the marriage between King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 and Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...

 was annulled and it went against their Roman Catholic beliefs. More and Fisher were beheaded in 1535.

See also

• First Succession Act (Succession to the Crown Act 1533)
• Second Succession Act
  Second Succession Act
  The Second Succession Act of Henry VIII's reign was passed by the Parliament of England in June 1536, removing both Mary and Elizabeth from the line of the succession. The Act was formally titled "An Act concerning the Succession of the Crown"...
  
   (Succession to the Crown: Marriage Act 1536)
• Third Succession Act
  Third Succession Act
  The Third Succession Act of Henry VIII's reign was passed by the Parliament of England in July 1543, and returned both Mary and Elizabeth to the line of the succession behind Prince Edward....
  
   (Succession to the Crown Act 1543)
• Line of succession to the British throne
  Line of succession to the British Throne
  The line of succession to the British throne is the ordered sequence of those people eligible to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom and the other 15 Commonwealth realms. By the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, the succession is limited to the descendants of the Electress Sophia of...
  
  
• Alternative successions of the English crown