HENRY VIII

£52,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

A stunning copy of this important and extremely rare collection of works by Henry VIII, published to coincide with announcement of his gaining the title Fidei Defensor from the Pope. Henry's Defense of the Seven Sacraments against the challenge of Martin Luther was one of the most successful pieces of Catholic polemics produced by the first generation of anti-Protestant writers, Scarisbrick, 'Henry VIII , going through some twenty editions in the sixteenth century, and, as early as 1522, had appeared in two different German translations. One of Luther s many pronouncements was that there were only two sacraments rather than the traditional seven. The Defence was written by Henry probably with the assistance of Thomas More. The extent of More's involvement with this project has been a point of contention since its publication. The work was also included in John Fisher s works indicating he might also have had a hand in its production. Henry started to write in 1519 while he was reading Martin Luther's attack on indulgences. By June of that year, he had shown it to Thomas Wolsey, but it remained private until three years later, when the earlier manuscript became the first two chapters of the Assertio, the rest consisting of new material relating to Luther's De Captivitate Babylonica. It was dedicated to Pope Leo X, who rewarded Henry with the title Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) in October 1521, a title revoked following the king's break with the Catholic Church in the

• Binding: Hardcover

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