[The Age of the Reformation by Preserved Smith]@TWC D-Link bookThe Age of the Reformation CHAPTER I 668/1552
The old services went on until Parliament had spoken.
As with Henry VIII, so with this daughter of his, scrupulous legality of form marked the most revolutionary acts.
Elizabeth had been proclaimed "Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith &c," this "&c" being chosen to stand in place of the old title "Supreme Head of the Church," thus dodging the question of its assumption or omission. Parliament, however, very soon passed supremacy and uniformity acts to supply the needed sanction.
The former repealed Philip and Mary's Heresy Act and Repealing Statute, revived ten acts of Henry VIII and one of Edward VI, but confirmed the repeal of six acts of Henry VIII. Next, Parliament proceeded to seize the episcopal lands.
Its spirit was just as secular as that of Henry's Parliaments, only there was less ecclesiastical property left to grab. The Book of Common Prayer was revised by introducing into the recension of 1552 a few passages from the first edition of 1549, previously rejected as too Catholic.
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