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defender of the faith
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Latin:
Fidei Defensor
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king
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defender of the faith

English royal title
Also known as: F.D., Fid. Def., Fidei Defensor
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History

defender of the faith, a title belonging to the sovereign of England in the same way as Christianissimus (“most Christian”) belonged to the king of France. The title was first conferred by Pope Leo X on Henry VIII (Oct. 11, 1521) as a reward for the king’s pamphlet Assertio septem sacramentorum adversus Martinum Lutherum (“Declaration of the Seven Sacraments Against Martin Luther”), written against Luther. When Henry broke with the papacy, Pope Paul III deprived him of his designation, but the title was restored to the king by Parliament in 1544 and is still used by his successors on the English throne. The abbreviation Fid. Def. or the letters F.D. have been regularly on the coinage from the time of George I.