 In any case , between 1532 and 1537 , Henry instituted a number of statutes that dealt with the relationship between king and pope and hence the structure of the nascent Church of England . These included the Statute in Restraint of Appeals ( passed 1533 ) , which extended the charge of praemunire against all who introduced papal bulls into England , potentially exposing them to the death penalty if found guilty . Other acts included the Supplication against the Ordinaries and the Submission of the Clergy , which recognised Royal Supremacy over the church . The Ecclesiastical Appointments Act 1534 required the clergy to elect bishops nominated by the Sovereign . The Act of Supremacy in 1534 declared that the King was " the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England " and the <unk> Act 1534 made it high treason , punishable by death , to refuse the Oath of Supremacy acknowledging the King as such . Similarly , following the passage of the Act of Succession 1533 , all adults in the Kingdom were required to acknowledge the Act 's provisions ( declaring Henry 's marriage to Anne legitimate and his marriage to Catherine illegitimate ) by oath ; those who refused were subject to imprisonment for life , and any publisher or printer of any literature alleging that the marriage to Anne was invalid subject to the death penalty . Finally , the Peter 's Pence Act was passed , and it reiterated that England had " no superior under God , but only your Grace " and that Henry 's " imperial crown " had been diminished by " the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions " of the Pope . The King had much support from the Church under Cranmer . 
