Titulus Regius
| Act of Parliament | |
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| Long title | Titulus Regius, under which title all the reasons and allegations devised to prove the King to be true and undoubted heir to the crown, are set forth at large, and the same allowed, ratified, and enacted by the lords and commons; and his brothers children made bastards. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1 Ric. 3 c. 0 |
| Territorial extent | |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 20 February 1484 |
| Commencement | 23 January 1484 |
| Repealed | 7 November 1485 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Titulus Regis |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Titulus Regius (Latin for "Royal Title") or the Act of Settlement is a statute of the Parliament of England issued in 1484 which confirmed the title of King of England which was given to Richard III in 1483.
The act ratified the declaration of the Lords and the members of the House of Commons in June 1483 that because the marriage of Edward IV to Elizabeth Woodville had been invalid under Church law, their children, including Edward, Richard, and Elizabeth, were illegitimate and debarred under English common law from inheriting the throne. The reason stated was that when King Edward had secretly married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 he had already secretly wed 'and stood married' to Lady Eleanor Butler (née Talbot) who was still living at the time of his 'pretensed marriage' to Elizabeth. The offspring of this bigamous union were illegitimate under Church law (canon law) and the overall effect of bigamy combined with two illicit secret marriages made it impossible for the Church to rectify their status. Edward IV's brother, Richard Duke of Gloucester, being the next legitimate successor, had thus been petitioned to accept the crown and had been proclaimed Richard III on 26 June 1483. Since the Lords and the Commons had not been officially convened as a Parliament at the time of this determination, the Act of Succession, Titulus Regius, containing a copy of the petition, was placed by the same Lords and Commons before their next official session of Parliament in January 1484 so as to eradicate any doubts as to the validity of the king's title and to confirm the succession of his heirs.
Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1485 and succeeded by Henry VII. Henry's 1485 parliament repealed the 1484 act by another act, with the similar name Titulus Regis ("Title of the King").