Crown of Ireland Act 1542 - Further Developments in The 16th Century

Further Developments in The 16th Century

The secession from the Roman Catholic Church by various European rulers, including that of Henry VIII, inspired the Papacy to initiate the Counter-Reformation. One consequence of this was that the Papacy required all Roman Catholic rulers to consider Protestant rulers (and their loyal subjects) as heretics, thus making their realms illegitimate under customary Roman Catholic international law. Consequently, the title "King of Ireland" was not initially recognised by Europe's Catholic monarchs and the Papacy. Instead, they remained committed in considering Ireland a feudal fief of the Papacy, to be granted to any Catholic sovereign who managed to secure the island Kingdom from the control of its Protestant monarchs.

After the death of Henry VIII's only legitimate son, Edward VI, the throne passed to his oldest daughter, Mary I, who was a devout Roman Catholic. Mary shortly married Philip of Spain, who was also staunchly Catholic. The new Queen restored papal authority in both England and Ireland. However, the status of Ireland as a Kingdom remained in question: Would the Papacy recognise Ireland's existence as a kingdom in its own right or maintain some fiction of temporal papal power in the land? To rectify this, Pope Paul IV issued a papal bull in 1555 recognising Philip and Mary as King and Queen of England and its dominions including Ireland. Although this did not explicitly recognise Ireland as a Kingdom, it represents the surrender of most of the Papacy's declared authority over Ireland, elevating it from a mere Province of the Holy See to one that united Ireland's and England‘s crowns in one person.

Mary died without issue in 1558, and the thrones of England and Ireland passed to Henry's younger daughter, Elizabeth, who was also a Protestant. Once again, both Kingdoms were removed from papal authority; in reply, the Pope issued a Bull, Regnans in Excelsis declaring King Phillip of Spain the rightful ruler, declaring "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" to be a heretic and releasing all her subjects from any allegiance to her and excommunicating any that obeyed her orders.