Fidei defensor

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"Defender of the Faith" redirects here. For the 1984 platinum album of British heavy metal group Judas Priest, see Defenders of the Faith.

Fidei defensor is the Latin original of the English and French titles.

1 Defender of the Faith
2 Défenseur de la Foi
3 See also
4 Sources and references

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Defender of the Faith

Fidei defensor or Defender of the Faith has been one of the subsidiary titles of the English (and later British) Monarchs since it was granted on October 17, 1521 by Pope Leo X to Tudor King Henry VIII of England (some other major Catholic Kingdoms have obtained similar pious titles, such as Apostolic King).

The title was then in recognition of Henry's book Assertio Septem Sacramentorum (Defence of the Seven Sacraments), written with the uncredited assistance of Thomas More, which defended the sacramental nature of marriage and the supremacy of the Pope. This was also known as the "Henrician Affirmation" and was seen as an important opposition to the early stages of the Protestant Reformation, especially the ideas of Martin Luther.

When the Tudor king broke with Rome and established himself as head of the Church of England, from the papal point of view the worst attack on the faith (or rather, and more to the point, on the Catholic Church) since Luther, the title was revoked by Pope Paul III.

However, the English parliament conferred the title in 1544 on King Edward VI of England and his successors, now the defenders of the Anglican faith, of which they (except the Catholic 'renegade' Mary Tudor) still are the Supreme Governors (formally above the Archbishop of Canterbury as Primate), and mainly against Catholicism, so the inverse of the original papal grant. Although the two Cromwells (16 December 1653 -30 January 1649), while republican Heads of state styled Lord Protector, were clearly profiled as more protestant than the Monarchy, they did not adopt the style Defender of the Faith, which thus had a hiatus till the Stuart Restoration.

The Latin version of the title, Fidei Defensor, abbreviated to FD, is still seen on all current British coins. It was first placed on coins in 1714 in the reign of King George I of England.

Most Commonwealth Realms where the British Sovereign is head of state omit the title "defender of the faith" from their country's full official title given to the Monarch, while maintaining the initial By the Grace of God, e.g. Australia from 19 October 1973.

However it is still in use as part of HM's full style in a few Commonwealth countries:

the United Kingdom, the home realm, from 29 May 1953: "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."
dominion of Canada, from 29 May 1953: "By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith"; also, in French: Par la Grâce de Dieu, Reine du Royaume-Uni, du Canada et de ses autres Royaumes et Territoires, Chef du Commonwealth, Défenseur de la Foi
dominion of New Zealand, from 6 February 1974: "By the Grace of God, Queen of New Zealand and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith."

Other Commonwealth countries dropped the title before choosing a separate head of state, e.g. Pakistan (its very national identity being Muslim), from 29 May 1953 (while still a dominion) to 23 March 1956 when it became a republic: "Queen of the United Kingdom and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth", or South Africa from 29 May 1953. Other countries kept it until the adoption of a separate head of state, e.g. Ireland.

HRH Charles, the Prince of Wales, has considered changing the interpretation of the formula. He commented in 1994 that, "I personally would rather see it (his future role) as Defender of Faith, not the Faith" [1]. While the absence of articles in Latin allows such alternative translation, questions may be asked whether this still reflects the Sovereign's role as Head of the Established Church of England, or on the other hand takes position against the unbelievers.

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Défenseur de la Foi

This French literal equivalent has been used as:

the official version in French in HM's realm of Canada (mainly the francophone province of Quebec), see above;
a subsidiary title, self-awarded, of Henri I, the slave-descended King of (actually only the north of) Haiti (28 March 1811 - 8 October 1820), as part of his long, for such a poor country pompous style , which is translated from the (grammatically abominable) French as: By the grace of God and the constitutional law of the state, King of Haiti, Sovereign of Tortuga, Gonâve and other adjacent Islands, Destroyer of Tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haitian Nation, Creator of her Moral, Political and Martial Institutions, First Crowned Monarch of the New World, Defender of the Faith, founder of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Henry.

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