Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542
The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 (Welsh: Y Deddfau Cyfreithiau yng Nhgymru 1535 a 1542) were parliamentary measures by which Wales became a full and equal part of the Kingdom of England and the legal system of England was extended to Wales and the norms of English administration introduced. The intention was to create a single state and legal jurisdiction. The Acts were passed during the reign of King Henry VIII of England, who came from the Welsh Tudor dynasty.
Before these Acts, Wales was excluded from Parliamentary representation and divided between the Principality of Wales, and a large number of feudal statelets; the marcher lordships.
The Act declared the King Henry's intentions, that because of differences in law and language:
- and therefore:
Names and dates of the Acts
They are sometimes misleadingly known as the Acts of Union (Welsh: Y Deddfau Uno), but the legal short title of each Act since 1948 is "The Laws in Wales Act". They are also often seen cited by the year they received Royal assent, in 1536 and 1543 respectively, although the official citation uses the contemporary year in which the parliamentary session began. In the case of each of these Acts this date occurred between 1 January and 25 March, adding to the ambiguity in the dating because of the use at that time of the Julian or "old style" calendar.
Act of Union
Act of Union may refer to:
In Britain and Ireland
In the British Empire
In Scandinavia
Acts of Union 1800
The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes erroneously referred to as a single Act of Union 1801) united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with effect from 1 January 1801. Both Acts, though since amended, still remain in force in the United Kingdom, but have been repealed in the Republic of Ireland.
Name
Two acts with the same long title, 'An Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland' were passed in 1800; the short title of the act of the Irish Parliament act is 'Act of Union (Ireland) 1800', and that of the British Parliament is 'Union with Ireland Act 1800'. There was no Act of Union of 1801.
Background
Before these Acts, Ireland had been in personal union with England since 1541, when the Irish Parliament had passed the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, proclaiming King Henry VIII of England to be King of Ireland. (Before then, since the 12th century, the King of England had been overlord of the Lordship of Ireland, a papal possession.) Both Ireland and England had come in personal union with Scotland with the Union of the Crowns in 1603.
Acts of Union 1707
The Acts of Union were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate states with separate legislatures, but with the same monarch) into a single, united kingdom named "Great Britain".
The two countries had shared a monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his double first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I. Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on the same head (as opposed to the implied creation of a single Crown and a single Kingdom, exemplified by the later Kingdom of Great Britain). There had been three attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that both political establishments came to support the idea, albeit for different reasons.
