Proclamation by the Crown Act 1539
The Proclamation by the Crown Act 1539 (31 Hen. 8. c. 8), also known as the Statute of Proclamations, was a law enacted by the English Reformation Parliament of Henry VIII. It permitted the King to rule by decree, ordering that "traditional" proclamations (that is, any unable to impose the death penalty or forfeiture of goods) should be obeyed as "though they were made by act of parliament". In addition the act appointed machinery for their enforcement.Sir William Blackstone called the act "a statute, which was calculated to introduce the most despotic tyranny; and which must have proved fatal to the liberties of this kingdom, had it not been luckily repealed. "The Act was once considered to be the height of Henry VIII's despotism.