Defender of the Faith
1
9.9
- noun
- Formal
:
Defensor de la Fe
- Henry VIII was granted the title Defender of the Faith by Pope Leo X after opposing Martin Luther's writings.
Examples
-
Queen Elizabeth II held the title of Defender of the Faith as part of her official role in the Church of England.
-
For which he was named Defender of the Faith by His Holiness, the Pope.
-
Allow me to introduce our sovereign lord, Ralph jones... ...King of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and all her other realms and territories... ...Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
-
As the Defender of the Faith, the monarch is responsible for upholding the doctrines of the Anglican Church.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally clear — a learner who knows 'defender' and 'faith' will understand it denotes someone who protects or champions religion. However, its specific status as an official royal title and historical/political usage (granted to monarchs) is conventional cultural knowledge not predictable from the words alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Defender of the Faith, literally meaning a defender of faith, was first given by the Pope to King Henry VIII as praise for protecting the church. That is why the phrase is now part of the monarch's official name and means the ruler is seen as the 'protector' of the church.