8. c. 21) was an act of the Parliament of England, passed in 1542,[4] which attainted Queen Catherine Howard for adultery, thereby authorising her execution.

[a] It also provided that all of Queen Catherine's assets were to be forfeited to the Crown while also creating a new method in which royal assent could be granted to legislation.

King Henry decided that "the repetition of so grievous a Story and the recital of so infamous a Crime" in his presence "might reopen a Wound already closing in the Royal Bosom".

[6] To avoid this, Parliament inserted a clause in the bill of attainder, which provided that royal assent could be granted by commissioners appointed for the purpose, instead of by the king in person.

It also made it high treason for any person who married the King (or his successors) to conceal from the monarch their previous sexual history.