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Regnans

Regnans is a Latin present participle meaning "reigning" or "ruling." In Latin it functions as an adjective or participle and appears in religious, legal, and scholarly contexts. The phrase Regnans in Excelsis, Latin for "Reigning in the Highest" or "Ruling in the Heavens," is best known as the title of a papal bull issued in the late 16th century.

Regnans in Excelsis was issued by Pope Pius V on February 25, 1570. The bull excommunicated Elizabeth

Impact and significance: The bull intensified English state security measures against Catholics, strengthened laws of recusancy,

Beyond its historical role, the term regnans appears in Latin literature to denote reigning rulers and is

I,
queen
of
England,
and
declared
that
she
and
her
adherents
were
outside
the
Catholic
Church.
It
proclaimed
that
Elizabeth's
subjects
were
dispensed
from
their
oaths
of
allegiance
and
urged
those
who
remained
faithful
to
resist
her.
The
document
aimed
to
undermine
Elizabeth's
authority
and
to
oppose
her
religious
policies
in
England,
reflecting
the
broader
Catholic
effort
to
influence
English
politics
during
the
Reformation.
and
deepened
the
religious
and
political
conflict
of
the
era.
Although
Regnans
in
Excelsis
articulated
a
strong
papal
stance,
it
did
not
lead
to
a
successful
deposition
of
Elizabeth
and
functioned
more
as
a
formal
assertion
of
papal
authority
than
a
practical
instrument
of
change.
encountered
in
scholarly
discussions
of
papal
texts,
sovereignty,
or
Latin
nomenclature.
The
expression
is
primarily
of
historical
interest
in
English-speaking
contexts.