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Henry VIII Assertio septem sacramentorum aduersis Martin Lutherum
(Defence of the Seven Sacraments)
Queen Elizabeth II is styled "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace
of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth,
Defender of the Faith". British coinage reflects this by using
the abbreviations FID DEF or just F.D. and has been doing so since 1714
during the reign of King George I.
In 1517 Martin Luther attacked the Catholic Church in Disputatio or
The Ninety Five Theses. These were posted on the door of the
Castle Church of Wittenberg. Among the various abuses of the Church
Luther particularly singled out the sale of indulgences for the redemption
of sins, the money being used by Pope Leo Xth for the renovation of
St Peter's basilica in Rome.
Luther could only find two Sacraments in the Bible and considered the
other five to be inventions of the Catholic Church. This marked the
start of the Protestant Revolution for which Luther was excommunicated.
The problem facing the Catholic Church was that Luther's views were
heretical but extremely popular. 3.1 million copies of his Ninety-Five
Theses were printed in the 30 years following 1517.
Defence of the Seven Sacraments (Assertio Septem Sacramentorum
adversus Martin Lutherum) 1521 (in Latin) was written by Henry VIII
as a rebuttal. So here we have Henry as a Catholic defending the Catholic
Church and the Pope. By 1534 things had changed and Henry split from
Rome and was named as Head of the Church of England. Pope Clement withdrew
the title 'Defender of the Faith' from Henry and excommunicated him
as well asThomas Cranmer. It is probable that it was largely written
by Sir Thomas More.
The seven sacraments: The Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
Eucharist The Sacraments of healing: Anointing the sick, Penance and
reconciliation Sacraments of Communion: Holy Orders, Matrimony
