Westminster Abbey has been Britain’s coronation church since 1066. (Photo: Unsplash/Max Kukurudziak)
The British monarch traditionally bears the title “Defender of the Faith” which also appears on British coins as “F.D.” As it’s been back in the news lately, now’s a good time to consider it in more detail.
Defender of the Faith
Defender of the Faith is a title originally given by popes to various monarchs who rendered service to the faith. The first British monarch to be given the title was actually a king of Scotland. In 1507, during the reign of Henry VII, Pope Julius II had awarded James IV of Scotland the title “Protector and Defender of the Christian Faith”, for diplomatic and military support to the papacy. James IV was married to Margaret Tudor who was the daughter of Henry VII, and in 1509 her brother Prince Henry became King Henry VIII of England. Later James IV’s brother-in-law Henry VIII would also receive the title.
Martin Luther
In 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses of complaints against the Catholic Church to the parish church door at Wittenberg in the German state of Saxony. Luther’s ideas and sentiments were not completely new. Similar views had been espoused by earlier evangelical movements like the Lollards in England and the Hussites in Bohemia. However, the presence of the new technology of the printing press in the Holy Roman Empire (roughly what is now called Germany) enabled Luther’s writing to be printed and disseminated to a large audience. This led to what is known as the Reformation and the start of Protestantism.
In October 1520, Martin Luther published “De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiae”, which he wrote in Latin. In English it is known as “On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church”. In this Luther accused the Catholic Church and the Papacy of keeping the Church in captivity. He likened Rome to Babylon where the exiled Israelites were held in captivity in the Old Testament. In this book Luther argued there are only three true sacraments, which for him were baptism, penance and the eucharist. Luther felt that these were the only ones instituted by Jesus, and he dismissed the other four sacraments, which were confirmation, marriage, holy orders, and extreme unction (anointing the sick) as mere ceremonies. Hardly surprisingly, the Church authorities did not take kindly to it, and the book had not long been out before Pope Leo X issued a papal bull against Luther.
Henry VIII v Martin Luther
Meanwhile from 1518, Lutheran ideas gained an avid audience in England, and Luther’s books in Latin were read by the educated classes and discussed by students at Cambridge University. At this time, King Henry VIII was a staunch Catholic and observed the ceremonies and traditions of the Church, although we may note that many of his personal morals were not particularly holy.
In July 1521, Henry VIII, maybe with the help of Thomas More and Thomas Wolsey, wrote “Assertio Septem Sacramentorum adversus Martinum Lutherum” in Latin, which was dedicated to Pope Leo X. It was printed in English as “An Assertion of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther”. It was a direct reply to Luther’s “De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiae” and defended the traditional sacramental system. Ironically when considering later events, the king also maintained the sanctity of marriage and the supremacy of the Pope.
In July 1522, Martin Luther replied with “Contra Henricum Regem Angliae”, translated into English as “Against Henry King of the English”. Luther openly criticised Henry’s motivations, accusing him of having little real interest or knowledge in theology. In 1523, Thomas More then wrote “Responsio ad convitia Martini Lutheri” in reply which was his first theological work.
The Pope’s Response
The Pope read the king’s document and liked it. On October 11, 1521, Pope Leo X granted Henry VIII the title of “Fidei Defensor” (Defender of the Faith), and his wife Queen Catherine of Aragon used the title ”Fidei Defensatrix”, as wife of the titleholder. It was confirmed by Pope Clement VII in 1523.
The King’s Divorce
Meanwhile from 1525, Henry VIII sought a way out of his marriage to Catherine. Divorces were sometimes allowed to monarchs by a Pope. However the issue for Henry VIII was that Catherine had been his deceased elder brother Arthur’s widow, and he had married her with a dispensation from the Pope. Popes have a reputation for not wanting to be seen to be fallible, and he was not inclined to revoke a dispensation awarded by a previous Pope. In addition, Catherine was the aunt of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor who controlled Rome and the Pope after sacking it in 1527. Emperor Charles V thwarted the papal annulment taking it as a family insult.
Break with Rome
Unable to achieve an official Church divorce, Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII engineered a spiritual Brexit by a series of laws which undermined papal authority until 1534, when the Act of Supremacy asserted the independence of the “Ecclesia Anglicana” (Church of England), and Henry VIII appointed himself and his successors as the supreme rulers of the English Church, and in 1536 he started the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Title Revoked
The king who had written against Luther, was now repudiating the Pope whose authority he had so robustly defended. Clement VII died in 1534, and he was succeeded by Pope Paul III. In January 1537, Pope Paul III granted the title “Fidei Defensor” to Henry VIII’s nephew, King James V of Scotland, hoping he would resist his uncle’s Reformation path.
In 1538, Pope Paul III excommunicated Henry VIII and revoked the title of “Fidei Defensor” from him. It was all rather symbolic because Henry VIII no longer recognised the authority of the Pope. Henry VIII liked the title and kept using it regardless.
Title Bestowed by Parliament
In 1544, the English Parliament passed “An Act for the King’s Style”, granting Henry VIII and his heirs the hereditary title of “Fidei Defensor” in Latin, “Defender of the Faith” in English. The new idea was that the monarchy was still called to safeguard the faith, but that faith was now practised in the form of the Church of England. All subsequent monarchs have retained the title of ”Fidei Defensor” or “Defender of the Faith” as part of the royal title. The British monarch is also head of state of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and some other nations. “Defender of the Faith” was removed from royal title in Australia in 1973 and in Canada in 2023 but remains part of the royal title in New Zealand.
British Coins
It was in 1714, during the reign of King George I, that the abbreviation “Fid. Def.” or “F.D.” first appeared regularly on British coins. It has appeared on all coins since, with one exception. On the obverse (back) of British coins, you will find the head of the monarch and the name and letters round the edge. Most British coins still in circulation have “Elizabeth II D.G. REG. F.D.” on them.
Since 2022, newly minted coins now have “Charles III D.G. REX F.D.” on them. The “D.G.” stands for “DEI GRATIA” which means “By the Grace of God”. In Latin “Rex” means king, and “Regina” means Queen. The “F.D.” stands for “Fidei Defensor” which is Latin for “Defender of the Faith”. So, the “D.G. REX F.D.” means “By the Grace of God, King, Defender of the Faith”.
The letters “F.D.” also appear on the coins of Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey, but not on the coins of other states like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand where Charles III is also king. The only time that “D.G. and F.D.” were left off, was in 1849 when the new florin (two shillings) coin, just read “VICTORIA REGINA 1849”. It caused a scandal and the coin gained the nickname of the “godless florin”, so in 1851 the coin was redesigned. These “godless florins” are now sought after by coin collectors.
Summary
The title of Defender of the Faith was given to the person of Henry VIII for defending the Catholic faith against Lutheranism and was then unsurprisingly revoked after he created the Church of England. The title was then bestowed back upon Henry VIII by the English Parliament to recognise the monarch’s role as head of the Church of England, and it became hereditary. Today King Charles III retains the title of “Defender of the Faith” which appears on coins as “F.D.”. The faith in question is the Christian faith in its Protestant form. However, with the current king’s interest in other faiths, he has tended to apply it more generally.
