Elizabeth I

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†An analysis of the religious issues in England 1560-1600 reveals Elizabeth I acting with consummate political skill.” Discuss

Probably Elizabeth’s most striking examples of moderation can be seen with her religious policy. The Settlement of Religion 155 had her facing one of the hardest questions she had to answer during her reign. Was England to be a Catholic or Protestant country? Elizabeth had political and personal reasons for choosing Protestantism. Although she had abided by the Catholic faith during Mary’s reign she had been raised a Protestant and was committed to that faith. But she also believed in Religious toleration and that Catholics and Protestants were both part of the same faith. She had no toleration for radicals of either faith.

In April 155 the Act of Uniformity was passed. Everyone in England was to conform to Protestantism. Elizabeth chose the 155 Prayer Book of Edward VI and incorporated wording from the 1554 Prayer Book so that both Catholics and Protestants could both participate in the Communion Services. Church attendance on Sundays was compulsory and twelve pence fine was collected if people did not attend.

The Act of Supremacy 155 involved a compromise. Both her father and brother had been â€Head of the Church in England”. Under Elizabeth this had been modified to â€Supreme Governor of the Church in England”. This may have been to appease Catholics who would not accept monarch as â€Head of Church” and men who were uncomfortable about the idea of a woman being in charge. Elizabeth publicly acknowledged that as a woman she was inferior. This act also included an Oath of Supremacy to the Queen that the clergy were expected to take. If they didnt they would lose their office. A High Commission was established to ensure the oath was taken.

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Although passing the Act of Supremacy through Parliament had been quite easy, passing the act of Uniformity was much more difficult as a large number of the Parliament were still Catholic and opposed the bill and it was eventually passed by only three votes.

The Vestment Controversy of the 1560‘s created a problem. The Protestant puritans did not like the dress of the Catholic priests, calling them â€filthy popish rags”. The Catholic priests liked to dress up and be thought of as higher than the average man is. The Protestant puritans disliked this immensely. To resolve this matter, in 1565 Elizabeth ordered the archbishop to set out a uniform for the priests to wear (a dress code). The uniform decided on was to be a cap and a surplice (cloak). 7 ministers refused to conform. They were stood down. Three months later only still refused.

Thomas Cartwright’s views on Presbyterianism presented a challenge to Monarchal Supremecy in the church. He said that the church structure, under Elizabeth, was not spelt out in the bible. If this was true then it has no moral authority. This was a threat to Elizabeth as Presbyterianism represented a power inversion, a challenge to Royal authority. Thomas Cartwright was forced to give up his professorship at Cambridge and fled the country to Germany before he was executed.

Catholics did not have an easy time during Elizabeth’s reign but it could have been much worse. Catholicism was effectively illegal. Attendance at mass was to be punished by a fine of 100 marks but arranging for it to be said and the saying of mass carried the death penalty, however this was not implemented until 1577 as Elizabeth disliked such extremism. As far as she was concerned as long as Catholics were loyal to her, behaved themselves and attended church now and then, they were free to believe what they wished. Elizabeth was satisfied with outward conformity and had no desire to put ordinary men and women to death just because of their faith.

Only as the Catholic threat from Europe heightened did the Elizabethan government take a harsher stance against Catholics. The new Pope, Pius V, did not like Elizabeth and like all Catholics, believed she was illegitimate and had no right to the English throne. Catholics believed the true Queen of the land was Mary Queen of Scots. The Northern Revolt in 156 was the first of many attempts to overthrow Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. In 1570 the Pope issued a Papal Bull, against Elizabeth, excommunicating her and absolving all her subjects from allegiance to her and her laws. This was a drastic step, and one that King Philip II of Spain and some English Catholics disapproved of. The Papal Bull made things difficult for Catholics in England (It was believed that an excommunicated person was unchristian and therefore would go to hell). They were faced with a dilemma, torn between two loyalties. Their loyalty to the Queen, who many of them respected and maybe loved and their loyalty to the Pope, who to them was Gods representative on Earth. From this moment on Catholics were seen as a great threat to the Queen and the realm.

After 1574 a far greater threat came from missionary priests. Inspired by the teachings of the Counter-Reformation these young Catholics were willing to give their lives to win the country back to the true faith. In 1580 Jesuits joined them. To counteract this, in 1581 Elizabeths government increased the fine for non attendance at church from 1 pence to 0 pounds- a phenomenal amount considering the annual income for a knight was only about 50 pounds. In 1585 law prohibited the entrance of Jesuits into the country but they still came hoping to convert the English population to Catholicism. They bore the brunt of Catholic persecution and many were executed for treason. The Elizabethan government genuinely believed that Catholics posed a serious threat to the Queens life and reign.

However, although some English did convert to Catholicism, even during the difficult years of the 1580’s, they no longer posed a threat to the security of Elizabeth’s church or rule. By 160 there was an estimated 8,570 who still refused to attend church and 100,000 who attended once in a while in order to avoid fines.

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