Unit 2: Study in Depth
Elizabethan England
How did Elizabeth tackle the
problem of religion?
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Why was religion an important issue?
Before Elizabeth became queen her father broke away from the Roman Catholic Church (1533) and following
Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy he had created (and put himself in charge of) the Church of England. All of this was essentially to allow Henry to divorce his then wife Catherine of Aragon. Henry’s reforms to the church were very minor (with the exception of the rules on divorce) and to many Catholics the Church of England was very
similar to the Catholic Church they were used to.
Following Henry VIII’s death in 1547 his son Edward VI became king of England. As a young boy he ruled the kingdom with help from a number of advisors and between them they followed a strict policy of Protestant
Reform. This meant making a number of radical changes to the way in which people practices their religion.
Evidence from the time does suggest that although Edward made changes to the English church, not many
English people actually converted to Protestantism and many remained Catholics.
When Mary I came to power in 1553 the people, who were happy to see another Catholic on the throne of
England, greeted her gladly. Mary was determined to return England to a Catholic country and made
Protestantism illegal. Those who wanted to remain Protestant were either burned, making them in martyrs and
making the Catholic queen seem cruel, or they were forced to leave England where they would meet (and learn
from) more radical Protestants.
This left Elizabeth with a complex religious situation to deal with when she became Queen in 1558.
Catholic Perspective
Protestant Perspective
The Anglican Church – Elizabeth’s Compromise
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Why was religion important to ordinary English people?
In the 16th century almost everyone believed in God and therefore believed that at the end of their lives they would
be judged resulting in access to heaven or being sent to hell for the rest of eternity. This meant that on a day to day
basis it was important for people to follow the rules and practices of the Church in order to lead a good life.
Fear of an eternity in hell was not the only reason that church was important in the lives of the Tudor people. The
Church was also a place where people could gain moral and spiritual guidance. They would learn lessons that would
help guide them to live their lives, bring up their children and treat other people in their community. The Church
looked after the social aspect of living together in a community.
The Church also provided structure. People would attend services on Sundays and on Holy Days. This meant that
on specific days of the year the local church became the social hub of the village, facilitating people coming together
and celebrating with each other.
The only way that a person from a poor background could become educated was by joining the Church and
becoming a member of the clergy. This meant that the Church was also the main educator in Tudor England.
In a time of poor education and limited scientific knowledge many people also turned to the Church for comfort and
support in times of need and sickness. They would pray for the health of the sick and hope that God would help to
cure them. The local churches would also raise money through charity to help support the poor and sick.
Task Can you summarise the information above into 5 key words/terms that explain why the Church was important
to ordinary people in the 16th Century?
Why was the Church
important to ordinary people?
Loyalty to Elizabeth
As you will see later in this section Elizabeth made it
very clear that she was to be the head of the Anglican
(English) Church. This made the popularity of
Elizabeth and the popularity of her Church linked
together. If people liked Elizabeth they found it
difficult to not like her Church and if they liked what
she did with the Church it would also add to her
popularity with the people.
Task Read the source to the right. Do you think this
person is a fan of Elizabeth or not? Can you explain
your answer?
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Why was the issues of religion so important to Elizabeth herself?
For Elizabeth the issue of religion was a far bigger decision that simply what her own faith was. If she was to be the
Queen of England and carry her father’s tittle of ‘Defender of the Faith’ she needed to consider the religion of the
nation as well as her own views.
Historians have debated what religious beliefs Elizabeth I really held. There is significant evidence at the beginning
of her reign to suggest that she was Protestant. Elizabeth I had been educated by a number of high profile
Protestants such as William Grindal and Catherine Parr. She was therefore heavily influenced by the Protestant
religion. Throughout the reign of her Catholic sister, Mary I, she had dressed in simple Protestant-style robes. She
had also translated some important Protestant teachings and had continually used the English Bible in preference to
the Latin version favoured by Catholics.
Religion also had a major part to play in Elizabeth’s politics. As you should already know, when Elizabeth came to
the throne one of her main aims was to secure herself as the rightful ruler. If Elizabeth had made England a Catholic
country then her people would have a national, political leader in Elizabeth, but a moral and religious leader in the
Pope. Elizabeth wanted to ensure that as much authority over her people lay with her and as such she was insistent
that she would be head of the English Church. This required that the country have a non-Catholic religion. The
politics of religion were no so straight forward however, if she sided with Protestantism, she would be siding against
major powers like France and Spain.
Finally it was particularly important to Elizabeth that she endorses the Protestant Church because if she does not then
she could affect her own legal right to be Queen. It was under Henry VIII that the first Protestant Church of
England was created and it was this Church that allowed Henry to marry Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother. If she says that the Protestant Church is not the correct and legal Church then she is saying that she herself should not have
been born!
Task – The text above describes three main reasons why the religious issue was important to Elizabeth; Her own
personal religion, the link between politics and her religion and also the effect religion had on her legitimacy to rule.
In the space below can you put the three factors in rank order from what you think would have been the most
important factor for Elizabeth to the last. For each you must explain the rank you have given it.
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
What was Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement?
Task – Use the information from the three sets
of laws to fill in the table on the next page.
These laws are supposed to represent a
compromise. Once you have filled in the table
try to decide who would be most happy. The
Catholics or the Protestants?
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Communion &
preaching
Access to
prayer books
and bibles
Decoration on
Churches and
priests
The structure
of the Church
management
The head of
the Church of
England
Areas of
Concern
What did the Catholics
believe should happen?
What did the Puritans
believe should happen
What did Elizabeth
decide would happen in
the religious settlement?
How would Puritans
react to this
How would Catholics
react to this?
Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
How far did the Religious settlement of 1559 satisfy both Puritans and
Catholics?
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Feedback
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Task – Choose 5 parts of the Religious Settlement (best to choose the things you think will be more difficult
to remember. For each part of the settlement that you have chosen you should draw a picture or icon in the
space below.
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
What was the threat from the Puritans?
The Puritans were Protestants who wanted to ‘purify’ the Catholic Church of all traces of the old Catholic religion. One 16th century writer called them ‘the hotter type of protestant’. Puritan ideas spread quickly during Edward VI’s reign. Many Puritans fled abroad during Mary Tudor’s reign, but they began returning in 1558. Many of the Puritans were happy with parts of Elizabeth’s religious settlements, but not all of it and different Puritan groups responded to the changes in different ways. The Puritans can be
broken down into three categories.
Moderates
Presbyterians
This group posed the last
opposition to Elizabeth’s religious changes. They
wanted to make some simple
changes like getting priests to
wear more simple robes.
This group had a particular
problem with the way the
Church was being run. They
were pleased that the Pope
was no longer head of the
Church but they were not
happy with Elizabeth being in
charge.
The moderates were happy to
join Elizabeth church and
even become priests with the
intention of making small and
simple changes from within
the Church over time.
They wanted there to be no
‘Governor’ or bishops in charge of the Church, but
rather a group of locally
appointed elders for each
area.
Separatists
This is the most extreme
Puritan group and represents
only a very small number of
people.
This group wanted to abolish
the national Church entirely
and allow each parish to
become its own separate
church. This would allow
members of each parish to
vote on how they wished to
worship.
Task – Look at the
information from the different
groups and the opinions
expressed in the picture.
Based on all of this
information what would you
say are the Key beliefs of the
puritans. Try to summarise
them into three points on the
next page.
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
I think you can summarise the Puritans beliefs into three key points:
1.
2.
3.
The Puritan’s disagreed with Elizabeth’s changes from a purely religious point of view. They were not trying to replace Elizabeth as Queen of England just as head of the Church. Although their aims were not political
they did sometime use the political system to effect change.
A number of prominent politicians attempted to pass acts through Elizabeth parliament to make simple
changes to the religious settlement. Below you can see some of the actions Elizabeth took to make sure she
was not undermined.
Task – What did Elizabeth do to ultimately stop this happening in parliament.
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
When looking at the problems caused by the Puritans we see that most of their actions are about changing
the way that the Church established by Elizabeth operated. One example was the Vestments controversy
in which a number of Puritan priests disobeyed Elizabeth’s instructions to wear a particular style of robe. The Puritans believed that these robes looked too Catholic and made them stand out as something special
against their parishioners. This is not a big issue like a war, but is a challenge to Elizabeth’s authority. With this sort of information in mind can we really consider the puritans to be a threat?
Task - Use what you have learn over the past few pages and the diagram below to give your opinion as to
whether the Puritans were a threat or not.
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
What was the threat from the Catholics at home?
There were a number of potential threats
from Catholics living in England throughout
Elizabeth’s reign. Many of these threats some how linked back to Elizabeth’s cousin;; Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, but why was
she such a problem?
Mary, Queen of Scots, was Elizabeth’s cousin and her heir. The heir to the throne always
caused problems for monarchs. They could
attract the support of discontented nobles who
felt excluded from power. Elizabeth had
learnt how dangerous this could be during
Mary Tudor’s reign, when she herself had been the heir. But Mary, Queen of Scots, was
not just Elizabeth’s heir. Mary also claimed that she was the rightful Queen of England.
Many English Catholics supported her. She
also had support in Europe, especially in
France. English Catholics had not caused
Elizabeth any problems before Mary’s arrival. But now the situation had changed. Mary
could easily become the focus for plots and
rebellions against Elizabeth.
Remember that Elizabeth wanted to consolidate her power by making sure everyone knew she was the
legitimate heir and by becoming popular amongst the people. Mary Queen of Scots was young and
pretty, Catholic and related to the Tudor family by blood through Henry VIII. This blood relationship
went back to before Henry VIII’s reformation, which means for the Catholics she had a more legitimate
claim to the English throne than Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s plan to be legally recognised and popular was directly challenged by Mary.
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Task – Using the information cards; create a mind map giving details
of the various Catholic threats to Elizabeth. You should explain what
the threat was, how it was dealt with, who was involved and any other
information you think is important.
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
What was the threat from foreign Catholics?
At the time of Elizabeth’s religious settlement the majority of Europe was Catholic, with the
protestant world spreading outward from
modern day Germany. This meant that the two
most powerful nations, Spain and France, were
almost totally Catholic and very close to
England.
It is important to remember that although
France and Spain were ruled by their respective
Monarchs, the Catholic Church was lead by the
Pope, based in Rome. As religious men, the
Kings of France and Spain were deeply
committed to the word of the Pope (particularly
Philip II of Spain). As such the Pope and
therefore the Catholic Church had significant
influence over the two most powerful nations in
Early Modern Europe.
Task – Consider that Elizabeth must decide which religion her country follows and she must think about
how it will affect her countries relationship with other nations. Fill in the table below with your thoughts.
If England were Protestant
This would harm foreign
relations because…
This would benefit foreign
relations because…
If England were Catholic
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Who were the Jesuits and why were they a problem?
The Jesuits were a Catholic order of priests founded by St Ignatius Loyola in 1534 to help in the fight
against the Reformation begun by Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII. In 1540 they came under the direction of the Pope. From 1580 they began to arrive in England. Their aim was to not only keep the Catholic faith
alive, but to convert the whole of England to Catholicism. They rejected any compromise whatsoever of the
Catholic faith and were the arch enemies of anti-Catholic beliefs.
Task – Look at the image below, before reading further, can you work out how Elizabeth reacted to the
Jesuits from what you can see in the picture?
What can we learn about Elizabeth’s reaction to the Jesuits from this source? [7]
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Elizabeth had been determined not to offend Catholics too severely with her conservative religious changes.
The compromises she introduced were to ensure the Catholic traditional sections of her people did not
become alienated and rebel. However, the arrival of the Jesuits and the seminary priests from Douai in the
Netherlands changed all this. In 1581 Elizabeth passed the ‘Act to Retain the Queen’s Majesty’s Subjects in their True Obedience’ and the ‘Act Against Seditious Words and Rumours’ aimed specifically at the arrival of priests. If Jesuit priests were found they were often tortured until they confessed to being involved in plots
to overthrow the queen. This then allowed Elizabeth to have them executed for treason rather than heresy
(which might have made them martyrs). The response from the Pope was to send even more Jesuit priests
and so in 1585 Elizabeth passed the ‘Act Against Jesuits, Seminary Priests and such other Disobedient
Persons’. This mean Catholic priests ordained since 1585 were given 40 days to leave the country. If they stayed they were sentenced to death for high treason. During this period 146 Catholic priests were executed
and 10 Jesuit priests, mostly under this Act. In 1592 and in 1602 Royal Proclamations established
Commissioners to search out and find Catholic priests, in particular Jesuits.
Why was Edmund Campion a problem?
Edmund Campion was one of the first priest to arrive in
Britain. He worked mainly in areas of the country
sympathetic to Catholics, such as Lancashire, Oxfordshire
and Northamptonshire. After writing a book called ‘Ten Reasons’ which was against the Church of England, Campion began to give free copies to other in an attempt to
convert them to Catholicism.
He made a point to visiting the gentry, people who had land
and money. These people were more influential in their
communities and were the best people to try and convert.
Also their large homes could be used to hide priests like
Campion in Elizabeth’s men came looking. The hunt for Campion got serious when his anti-CofE book
began to become popular. He was eventually captured and
executed in 1581.
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
Task – Look at the key words in the box. Try to use as many of these words as possible to write a summary
of how the Jesuits were a problems for Elizabeth.
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Elizabethan England: How did Elizabeth deal with religion?
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