Defender Of The Faith
DEFENDER OF THE FAITH (Fidri Defensor), a title belonging to the sovereign of England in the same way as Christ ianissimus belonged to the king of France, and Catholicus belongs to the ruler of Spain. It seems to have been suggested in 1516, and although certain charters have been appealed to in proof of an earlier use of the title, it was first conferred by Pope Leo X. on Henry VIII. The Bull granting the title is dated the nth of October 1521, and was a reward for the king's treatise, Assertio, septem sacramentorum, against Luther. When Henry broke with the papacy, Pope Paul III. deprived him of this designation, but in 1544 the title of " Defender of the Faith " was confirmed to Henry by parliament, and has since been used by all his successors on the English throne.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
