User:The C of E/Handel

An Act for naturalizing Louis Sekeyhaye, George Frederick Handel, and others (13 Geo. I), later given the short title of Handel's Naturalisation Act 1727, was a 1727 Act of the Parliament of Great Britain with the intent of naturalising and granting British citizenship to composer George Friedrich Handel and other foreign citizens.

Background
In 1723, Handel had been appointed as Composer of Music for King George I of Great Britain's Chapel Royal. He was also expected to teach the princesses of the Royal Family however the Schism Act 1714 prohibited foreigners officially teaching without a licence from a bishop, though there was an exemption in the law for educating children of nobility.

Process
In February 1727, a petition was presented to the House of Lords to grant Handel British citizenship as this was the only method available. In order for the petition to be valid before it could be considered, Handel was obliged to provide evidence that he had taken the Oath of Supremacy and the Oath of Allegiance as well as entering into communion with the Church of England. The petition was accepted and brought before Parliament as a private bill and added to a bill for naturalising Louis Seyeheye. Prior to Second Reading, Handel took the oaths in the presence of the House of Lords. The certificate that he had accepted communion with the Church of England was also presented, though it was suggested that Handel accepted just to conform with the law and maintained elements of his Lutheranism while praising the Church of England for affording him the protection where would not "suffer any molestation or inconvenience on account of his religious principles." The bill passed through parliament and was granted Royal Assent by the King with the Norman French phrase "Soit fait comme il est desiré."