Defender of the Faith

Defender of the Faith (Latin: Fidei Defensor or, specifically feminine, Fidei Defensatrix; French: Défenseur de la Foi) is a phrase used as part of the full style of many English, Scottish and later British monarchs since the early 16th century, as well as by other monarchs and heads of state.

The earliest use of the term appears in 1507, when King James IV of Scotland was granted the title of "Protector and Defender of the Christian Faith" by Pope Julius II. The title was conferred on James IV by the papal legate Robert Bellenden in a lavish ceremony in Holyrood Abbey.

"Defender of the Faith" has been one of the subsidiary titles of the English and later British monarchs since it was granted on 11 October 1521 by Pope Leo X to King Henry VIII. His wife Catherine of Aragon also used the title. The title was conferred in recognition of Henry's book Assertio Septem Sacramentorum (Defence of the Seven Sacraments), 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.

Following Henry's decision to break with Rome in 1530 and establish himself as head of the Church of England, the title was revoked by Pope Paul III and he was excommunicated. However in 1543 the Parliament of England conferred (by a bill entitled "The Bill for the Kinges Stile") on King Henry VIII and his successors, now the defenders of the Anglican faith, the style "Henry the Eighth by the Grace of God King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and of the Church of England and also of Ireland in Earth the Supreme Head". All subsequent monarchs (except the Catholic Queen Mary I) became supreme governors.

King James V of Scotland was granted the title of "Defender of the Faith" by Pope Paul III on 19 January 1537, symbolizing the hopes of the papacy that the King of Scots would resist the path that his uncle Henry VIII had followed. Neither this title nor James IV's title of "Protector and Defender of the Christian Faith" became part of the full style of the monarch of Scotland.

During The Protectorate (1653–59), the republican heads of state Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell, more clearly profiled as Protestant than the monarchy, although claiming divine sanction, did not adopt the style "Defender of the Faith". The style was reintroduced after the restoration of the monarchy and remains in use to this day.

In his capacity as King of the United Kingdom, Charles III is styled "Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith". The title "Defender of the Faith" reflects the Sovereign's position as the supreme governor of the Church of England. The original Latin phrase Fidei Defensor is represented on all current British coins by the abbreviations F D or FID DEF. This notation was first added to British coins in 1714, during the reign of King George I. The decision of the Royal Mint to omit this and certain other parts of the monarch's style from the "Godless Florin" in 1849 caused such a scandal that the coin was replaced.

In most Commonwealth realms, the phrase does not appear in the Monarch's full style, though the initial "By the Grace of God" is maintained. For example, in Australia, King Charles is currently styled "by the Grace of God, King of Australia and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth". He is additionally styled "Defender of the Faith" only in New Zealand and the UK. Canada had initially chosen to include the phrase, not because the sovereign is regarded as the protector of the state religion (Canada has none), but as a defender of faith in general. In a speech to the House of Commons in 1953, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent stated: