Elizabethan Settlement
After Elizabeth took the throne and became the ruling monarch of England she wanted to relieve the tension between the Protestants and the Catholics. Elizabeth decided on a compromise between the two religions, one that would have characteristics of both, this new religion was called Anglicanism. The factors that caused Elizabeth to make this decision were her personal religious preferences, the views of the Marian Bishops and the opinions given to her by the parliament. However this compromise did have consequences. These include the dissatisfaction from both Protestants and Catholics, The Vestiarian Controversy and the Catholic opposition the settlement.
After the death of Henry in 1547, a 10 year old Edward
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Elizabeth had also been told by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Matthew Parker) that the Anglican Book of Common Prayer had been ignored by ministers of the church. The tensions between the two religions were soon seen by Elizabeth as the country broke out into civil war.
A consequence that came from the opposition of the Catholics was that the Catholics of England were starting to oppose Elizabeth as their queen; they saw Mary, Queen of Scots to be more suited to the throne. France, a Catholic country was seen as a threat as Mary, Queen of Scots had married a French prince and may team up with France to overthrow Elizabeth as queen. Spain at this time was also a threat its king, Philip II was an ardent Catholic who wanted to stop the spread of Protestantism. France and Spain were the two most powerful powers and were strongly Catholic, and the Catholics in England saw Mary, Queen of Scots as their hope of restoration of Catholicism to England, Mary also had a claim to the English throne which made her more of a threat.
Another consequence of the Elizabethan settlement was the Vestiarian Controversy. Puritans were unhappy with the Elizabethan settlement as they saw too many Catholic elements in the settlement, they saw Anglicanism insufficiently protestant in both worship and beliefs. A major cause of this controversy was the
Since fighting as a result of religious discrimination was evident during this time, (Catholics wanted to abolish the Protestant religion forever and Protestants wanting to overthrow a Catholic ruler), religious unrest and a challenging of religious views are clear during this time period, despite the fact that it was such an important factor in the Age of Enlightenment. For example, “[the people of England] waded through seas of blood to drown the idol of arbitrary power,” (Document 6) implies that the English have fought and have undemocratic rulers put into place, leading to even more conflicts.
In July 1559, Mary and Francis assumed the royal titles of King and Queen of France since Henry II had died. Her happiness was short, after she learned the death of her mother in June 1560. Six months later, her husband King Francis II was also dead. Mary was devastated and extremely depressed. In spite of these personal tragedies, Mary chose to return to Scotland although it was a different country from the one she had left 13 years ago. In Mary’s absence the Protestant party had gained power in Scotland by abolishing the authority of the pope and forbidding the celebration of the Mass.
At the beginning of her reign, she made the Church of England the official religion of England and she fashioned her court after that of her fathers. For a woman during that era, Elizabeth was a very daring and smart ruler. For example, she secretly encouraged sailors such as Francis Drake to make raids on Spanish shipping and challenge their naval superiority. When she was a little girl, she was well educated and was able to speak several languages, including French, Spanish, and Latin. In addition, throughout Elizabeth's reign, there was always the threat of hostilities in some form or another. Elizabeth kept the peace between rival leaders of different religions by dominating her court so she could keep the balance of power.2 She was smart enough to come up with a plan which kept the church at bay with their questions of marriage.3 She also calmed the Spanish and the French by entertaining suitors of each respective country; Philip II of Spain and Duke of Anjou of France, but she never married either of them and was therefore known as " the Virgin queen".4 Elizabeth was a Protestant queen who was not always on good terms with most Catholic rulers of Europe. Because of that, there were several assassination plots against her so the Catholics could put Mary, Queen of Scots, in her place. During the 1580's, Elizabeth began to bring her full weight onto the catholic rebels. Hundreds of Catholics died at the stake just as the
Mary's death also had an impact on the diplomatic relationship between England and Spain. The unrest with Spain escalated into full-scale conflict, largely instigated by Mary's execution, which angered king Phillip II of Spain.
Following the Reformation, there was a great division within the Church between the Catholics and Protestants. This tension was eased during the reign of Queen Elizabeth with the passing of the Act of Supremacy in 1559, which created the Church of England and consequently the Anglican Church. Eventually Anglicanism became known as the “New Catholicism”. While the pope was no longer recognized, bishops, and many aspects of medieval heritage was retained under the Anglican Church. It was highly supported by many elites due to its powerful expression of culture. In Voltaire’s letters, he acknowledges that even though everyone is allowed to practice their own religion, the “true religion that in which a man makes his fortune” is the Church of England. It was very difficult for people to obtain jobs in England and Ireland unless they were proclaimed followers. This especially depicted
Queen Elizabeth’s reign lasted from 1558-1603 during the Protestant Reformation, the Counter Reformation, and the Renaissance (when it was brought to England). She achieved major successes and established a stabilized nation during her reign. When she assumes the throne, after the death of her half sister, Queen Mary I, she faced many challenges, such as the bankruptcy of England, European powers that were trying to reestablish Catholicism, such as Spain and France, and negative criticism denouncing her as a ruler and as the head of the Church of England. It was against church teaching and Bible teachings, for any woman to rule over a country. Elizabeth I inherited the responsibility of governing the kingdom of England despite criticism. In
The New Reformation was an era with new ideas and feud between religions. In the 1500s, England believed in brand new things. Autocrats enforced the eulogized religion. Academies taught religions authorized by autocrats. Failing to comply with the eulogized religions is punishable by confinement, laceration, and death penalty. Complying with the wrong religion has its own risks for privy treasure, laxity, and vitality. Queen Mary accepted the Catholic religion and charred the Protestants alive and victimized them. Queen Elizabeth accepted and allowed Protestantism to be a religion. Queen Elizabeth allowed people to accept the Catholic religion without being persecuted. The Catholics desired to substitute Mary and replace Queen Elizabeth. (Linda Alchins, Religion in Elizabethan England, paragraph # 3). Catholics thinks that
It was not only peaceful times between these two religions during Elizabeth's reign. The Church of England was attacked by both Catholics who wanted back the “pure” Catholic Church. The fear that a Catholic leader such as Mary, Queen of Scots would come to power, forced Elizabeth to make stricter rules to overcome these pressing rebellions. Art and
With England torn apart by religious unrest brought about by Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I, Elizabeth I employed a pragmatic plan during the 1500s in order to bring about peace. In introducing a religious policy, she devised a compromise between the theological beliefs of Protestantism and Catholicism. Firstly, she adjusted her predecessors’ title of “ ‘the only supreme head of the church’ ” to “ ‘only supreme governor of this realm’ ” (Spielvogel 407). Though the alteration did
Queen Elizabeth had to be harsh and strict with Catholics, more than she would have preferred in order to maintain peace in England (Elizabeth R). Although Queen Elizabeth was nice, she could also be very strict. When Catholics rebelled she reacted quickly, she had them killed, took away their properties, or imprisoned them. After years of rebellion and fighting, England became a Protestant Country in the early 1600’s (Pitchard 103). “The significance of the Elizabethan religious settlement is that it was able to hold the vast majority of the people together, despite being a compromise few would have chosen” (Elizabeth I).
In 1559 Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was crowned Queen. Elizabeth sought to find a middle ground during her rein (1558-1603) in England, by allowing both Catholics and Protestants to worship without fear of any repercussions. However, Gilbert (1976) that ‘Elizabeth I and her successors had legislated to make Anglican worship compulsory’ (p. 4). By introducing the Act of Uniformity of 1559 it laid out the rules of worship that both religions were to follow and reissued the Book of Common Prayer for use in worship. The Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 also set to define the doctrine of the Church of England which set out a middle path between the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church and the Protestants (Wolffe, 2008). By the end of Elizabeth’s I forty five year reign, the majority of people in English society were Protestant. As the older, mainly Catholic members of society had died through old age (Christianity in Britain, 2011). Knight and Mason (2006) describe a dissenter during
politically. Although she had, at times, a horrible temper and a disagreeable personality, and suffered through many physical and psychological problems as an adult, Elizabeth proved to be one of the most remarkable monarchs in English history. Firstly, I will discuss Elizabeth’s family (including her many stepmothers), and then I will talk about her relationship with her siblings under their power. Thirdly, I will examine religion and how it affected her opinions and politics during her reign. Lastly, I will look at foreign politics of the time and some of Elizabeth’s decisions
Religion was very dominant throughout the early history in England, especially during the 16th and 17th centuries. This started to change during the late 17th century, when people started focusing more on human reason rather than religion. One of the reasons that people started losing their faith in the church is because of how the bishops were picked, and how the church itself was generally deteriorating; they weren't changing at all
Internally, disagreements over religion fluctuated according to the religion of the monarch in power. In 1642 in England, civil war broke out because Charles I was soft on Catholics, the Parliament was divided in religious conformity, and the Presbyterians and Anglicans could not get along. Also, the battle between Catholicism and Protestantism raged for years, coming to a climax with the Glorious Revolution in 1688. The Glorious Revolution came about with the end of Catholic James II's rule and the argument of who who would inherit his throne. His son, James, was Catholic and had a son who was Catholic as well. At the time, society was fearful of another Catholic leader. Mary, James II's daughter, was married to William the Orange, who was Dutch. Together, they forced James III out of contention and took the throne. They drafted the "...Toleration Act of 1689 (which) legalized all forms of Protestantism -- save those that denied the Trinity-- and outlawed Roman Catholicism."2
In England, clashes between Catholics and Protestants, brought upon by the establishment of the Church of England in 1531 by King Henry VIII, placed many in complete