The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701[5] to settle the succession to the English and Irish crowns on Protestants only. This had the effect of deposing the descendants of Charles I (other than his Protestant granddaughter Princess (later Queen) Anne) as the next Protestant in line to the throne was the Electress Sophia of Hanover, a granddaughter of James VI and I. After her, the crowns would descend only to her non-Catholic heirs.
The Act of Supremacy 1558 had confirmed the Church of England's independence from Roman Catholicism under the English monarch.
Born in Hanover, George inherited the titles and lands of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg from his father and uncles. After the deaths in 1714 of his mother, and his second cousin Anne, Queen of Great Britain, George ascended the British throne as Anne's closest living Protestant relative under the Act of Settlement 1701. George I was the 52 in line to the throne, the previous 51 were all Catholic.
George I, a German, 52 in line to the throne, who did't know English, became the King of Great Britain in 1714
Protestant: a member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches
1714年,英国安妮女王驾崩。根据当时的《1701嗣位法》《 Act of Settlement 1701》,这个法律是针对宗信仰, 基督教新教已经成为英国主流, 这个法律排除天主教徒成为英国国王, 在继承序列前51名的英国王室成员都是天主教徒, 全部失去继承权, 王位轮到了第52位继承人, 是新教徒, 出生并居住在德国汉诺威的乔治一世. 乔治一世本身对英国不感冒,一个主要原因是他不会说英语, 最后看在英国王冠的份上,接受了英王的职位.