Religious matters

• The reformation

  • The Reformation of Henry VIII's reign had officially made the country more Protestant, but in reality little had changed
  • Most Catholic practices were still followed
  • It was during Edward VI's reign that England became much more of a Protestant country
  • As Edward was only nine when he became king, the country was governed by groups of men, known as Regency Councils
  • During these six years there were drastic changes, including the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer which firmly established a more Protestant approach
• Mary's religious settlement

  • She spent five years returning the country to the Catholic faith
  • SHe made the Pope head of the Church once again, brought back the Latin Catholic mass and punished those who refused to return to the old religion
  • Almost 300 Protestants were martyred by being burned alive on her orders
  • Mary I was desperate to have a child who would succeed her and keep England Catholic but this did not happen
  • When she died in 1558, Mary left a scarred and religiously divided country to her younger sister, Elizabeth
• Catholic and Protestant common beliefs

  • God created the world and everything in it
  • Jesus is the son of God
  • Those who challenge the true faith must admit their error or be punished by the true believers
• Catholic beliefs and practices

  • The Pope is the head of the Church and has final say on all religious matters
  • The Bible and Church services should be in Latin
  • Priests should not marry
  • Churches should be decorated with paintings, statues and stained-glass windows
  • Priests are ordinary people's link with God
  • The bread and wine taken in services literally transforms into the body and blood of Jesus - transubstantiation
• Protestant beliefs and practices

  • The monarch should be head of the Church and have final say on all religious matters
  • The Bible and church services should be in the language of ordinary people - English
  • Priests were allowed to marry
  • Churches should be kept plain and simple with little decoration
  • Ordinary people can connect to God through personal prayer
  • When the bread and wine is taken in services it represents the body and blood of Jesus
• Elizabeth's religious settlement

  • Elizabeth was a Protestant but she was also practical
  • She set about a compromise to bring aspects of both faiths together in a 'religious settlement'
  • Elizabeth allowed priests to marry, services were held in English and she brought back the Book of Common Prayer
  • However, she declared herself 'governor' rather than 'head' of the Church
  • Importantly, Elizabeth allowed Catholics to worship in their own way in private
  • Church services were designed to allow people of either faith to understand and participate in their own way
  • Elizabeth appointed a moderate Protestant, Matthew Parker, as Archbishop of Canterbury to oversee the English Church
• What was life like for most Catholics under Elizabeth?

  • When Elizabeth came to the throne, many Catholics feared Protestant retribution for the burnings and persecution of Mary I's reign
  • Instead they found that Elizabeth was determined to bring the country together
  • Elizabeth's religious settlement combined some Catholic practices with Protestant ones
  • England was Protestant but Catholics could attend church and see many of the traditions of their faith
  • The services were written to avoid anything that would cause direct conflict for Catholics, with the wording left open to some interpretation
  • Recusancy fines for Catholics who refused to attend Protestant services were also very low
  • Catholics kept their own beliefs private and in return, the government would not seek out disobedience
• The papal bull

  • On 27 April 1570, Pope Pius V issued 'Regnans in Excelsis' (Reigning on high)
  • In this special message, or papal bull, the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth from the Catholic Church and called on Catholics to end her rule
  • English Catholics were faced with a dilemma: should they be loyal to their queen or the Pope?
  • Many chose to ignore the bull but some now saw it as their duty to rise up against Elizabeth, whom Pius had called the 'pretended queen of England'
  • Pius was well aware of the impact of his message
• Plots and rebellions

  • The excommunication was designed by the Pope to stir up rebellions was originally planned to coincide with the Northern Rebellion of 1569, but was issued late
  • It did, however, inspire other rebellions
• A new policy from Elizabeth

  • Plots after the papal bull showed that Elizabeth could no longer rely on the loyalty of all her Catholic subjects
  • A new approach was needed to ensure that potential troublemakers were found and Catholics did not rebel
  • New laws were introduced to try to disrupt Catholic activities and show that challenges to the queen's rule would not be tolerated
  • Having allowed private Catholicism for the first 23 years of her reign, a law was passed in 1581 making it treason to attend a Catholic mass
  • Greater fines were introduced for those who failed to attend church services
  • These recusancy fines rose to around £20, a significant sum even for the more wealthy
• The second at

  • A second act was passed in 1585 making it treason to have a Catholic priest in your home
  • Priests were executed and noble Catholic families faced the loss of their lands and wealth if their loyalty to the queen was placed in doubt
  • A 1593 law said that Catholics could not travel more than five miles from their homes
• The Northern Rebellion

  • 1569
  • Elizabeth refused to allow the Duke of Norfolk to marry Mary, Queen of Scots - a Catholic
  • This act inspired two northern Catholic nobles to lead a rebellion against Elizabeth to replace her with the Catholic Mary
  • Westmorland and Northumberland took control of Durham Cathedral and held an illegal Catholic mass
  • They then began to march south with around 4,600 men
  • The loyal Earl of Sussex raised an army and the rebels disbanded
  • Northumberland was captured and executed, Norfolk was imprisoned and Westmorland escaped to France
• The Ridolfi Plot

  • 1571
  • This plot was led by an Italian named Ridolfi and also involved the Duke of Norfolk
  • The plan was that an invasion from the Netherlands would coincide with another northern rebellion
  • Elizabeth would be murdered and replaced by Mary, Queen of Scots, who would then marry Norfolk
  • The plot was exposed before it could be completed
• The Throckmorton Plot

  • 1583
  • Led by Sir Francis Throckmorton
  • The plan was to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots
  • Once Elizabeth had been killed, there would be an invasion by the French Catholic, Henry, Duke of Guise, and an uprising of English Catholics
  • The plot also involved the Spanish ambassador
  • When the plot was discovered, Throckmorton was executed and Mary, Queen of Scots, was placed under even closer guard
• The Babington Plot

  • This was another attempt to murder Elizabeth and place Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne
  • Led by Anthony Babington
  • It was the discovery of this plot that led to Mary's trial and execution when it was found that she had known about, and agreed with, the plot all along
• The college at Douai

  • In 1568, an English Catholic cardinal named William Allen established a seminary at Douai in the Spanish Netherlands to train priests
  • Allen, who had the full backing of the Pope, aimed to educate priests who would then travel to England as missionaries to convert the English back to the Catholic faith
  • The first priests arrived in England in 1574, just as Elizabeth's fear of Catholic rebellion was growing
• The Jesuits

  • The Society of Jesus was created in 1540
  • It was part of what is known as the Counter-Reformation and hope to bring people back to the Catholic religion
  • The Jesuits, as its members were known, first arrived in England in 1580
  • Their aim was to convert the Protestant population to the Catholic faith
  • Jesuit priest were seen by Elizabeth as a threat to her rule and those who were caught were treated harshly
  • The 1585 Act against Jesuits and Seminary Priests called for all Jesuits to be driven out of England and many were executed
  • Those who sheltered them could be arrested
• Cardinal William Allen

  • An English Catholic who was made a Cardinal on the recommendation of King Philip II of Spain in 1587
  • A key figure in the Pope's plan for England to return to Catholicism
  • Involved in the Throckmorton Plot and the Spanish Armada
  • It is likely that had England become Catholic, he would have been Archbishop of Canterbury and responsible for re-establishment the religion in the country
• The Catholic powers in Europe

  • Although the Protestant faith was now widespread across Europe, the two most powerful countries remained firmly Catholic
  • Taking their lead from the Pope, the kings of France and Spain began to support challenges to Elizabeth's rule
  • To begin, it was hoped that a Catholic prince or perhaps Philip II himself might marry Elizabeth, but as it became clear that this would not happen, relations between the countries came under strain
  • Although he felt a duty to respond to the Pope's excommunication of Elizabeth, Philip II was not yet in a position to launch a full-scale attack on England, so he used other methods to try and undermine the English queen
• Conflict with Catholic countries

  • Although war was avoided, France and Spain supported the Jesuit missionaries and also gave financial support to those who wanted to get rid of the queen
  • Philip II even helped set up the seminary at Douai in the Netherlands, an area that was a source of conflict between the two countries
  • Elizabeth always showed her strength and determination when faced with threats from powerful Catholic countries, but the threats never went away
  • However, the death of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the failure of the Spanish Armada represented significant blows to Spanish, and papal, hopes of removing Elizabeth from power
• Why did Elizabeth's policy change?

  • In the 1580s, tolerance of Catholics declined sharply
  • Elizabeth and her government felt increasingly under threat at home and abroad
  • In England, there were a number of important Catholic families who still held a lot of power, particularly in the north
  • With the Catholic Church in Europe determined that England should return to Catholicism, it is easy to see why Elizabeth felt vulnerable
• Edmund Campion

  • He became a scholar at Oxford University during the reign of Mary I
  • As his Catholic views became known and less acceptable, Campion left England
  • He travelled alone and by foot to Rome to join the Jesuits in 1573
• Campion's mission

  • The Jesuits had spent the years since 1540 sending missionaries all over Europe, often at risk to their lives, spreading their religious message
  • In 1580, they began a mission to England
  • The men chosen to lead the mission were two exiled Englishmen: Robert Parsons and the charismatic Edmund Campion
  • On arrival in England on 24 June, Campion, disguised as a jewel merchant, began to preach to the ordinary English people
  • He travelled the country spreading his message
  • News of his presence reached the authorities and Campion became a wanted man
  • Parsons kept a much lower profile
  • The authorities were certain that Campion's aim was to encourage a rebellion
• Campion is caught

  • Campion was arrested on 14 July in Berkshire and taken to the Tower of London
  • Under questioning by three members of Elizabeth's privy council, Campion maintained that he had no wish to overthrow the queen
  • He was held for four months and tortured several times on the rack
  • He was found guilty of treason on 20 November 1581
  • On 1 December, Campion was dragged through London before being hung, drawn and quartered
  • Parsons escaped from England, never to return
• Elizabeth's new laws - 1

  • 1571
  • Recusancy fines for Catholics who did not take part in Protestant services
  • They could be fined or have property taken from them
  • However, the rich could afford to pay and Elizabeth did not enforce the law too harshly; when Parliament tried to increase the fines, Elizabeth resisted
  • It became illegal to own any Catholic items such as rosary beads
• Elizabeth's new laws - 2

  • 1581
  • Recusancy fines were increased to £20 - more than most could afford; this law was strictly enforced
  • It became high treason to convert to Catholicism
• Elizabeth's new laws - 3

  • 1585
  • Any Catholic priest who had been ordained after 1559 was considered a traitor and both he and anyone protecting him faced death
  • It became legal to kill anyone who attempted to assassinate the queen
• Elizabeth's new laws - 4

  • 1593
  • The statute of confinement - Catholics could not travel more than five miles from their home without permission from the authorities
• Who were the Puritans?

  • The Puritans were Protestants who were unwilling to compromise in how their faith was practiced
  • They had been influenced by more extreme Protestants in Europe, like John Calvin in Geneva, and argued for the removal of all Catholic elements from the English Church
  • Puritans hoped that Elizabeth would bring about the England they had dreamed of
  • Elizabeth's religious settlement was a huge disappointment to them
• Who were the puritans? pt.2

  • Early in her reign, Elizabeth appointed a number of bishops who had similar views to the Puritans
  • A big area of contention was what they wore
  • Puritans preferred ordinary, plain clothing but bishops of the Church of England were required to wear a white gown, or surplice, during services
  • Despite initial arguments most bishops ultimately accepted the clothing, especially after 1566, when it was made clear that refusal would cost them their jobs
  • By 1568 most Puritans accepted Elizabeth's changes and reluctantly conformed
  • A small dedicated group, known as Presbyterians, refused to give in and continued to argue against what they saw as a popish church
  • They didn't like the idea of bishops at all and wanted them removed completely, as had been done in Geneva
• How much of a threat were the Puritans?

  • In the 1570s, meetings known as prophesyings became popular
  • Prophesyings involved members of the clergy meeting for prayer and discussion, which would often include strong criticism of Elizabeth's Church
  • The Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Grindal, encouraged these meetings but the queen saw them as very dangerous
  • Grindal was suspended as Archbishop by the queen when he refused to ban prophesyings
  • More and more Puritans separated themselves totally from the mainstream Church and there were a number of attempts to establish new Churches
  • In 1580, a new separatist Church was established in Norwich
  • Its leader, Robert Browne, was arrested but later released
  • A second Church was set up in London in 1592 and again the leaders, Henry Barrow and John Greenwood, were arrested, and hanged
• Powerful Puritans

  • Parliament included a number of Puritan MPs, including Sir Peter Wentworth and Anthony Cope, who tried to introduce new laws that would change the Church but failed to gain enough suppport
  • The queen's childhood friend and potential husband, Robert Dudley, was a Puritan, but the most prominent Puritan in government was Sir Francis Walsingham
  • He was well aware that Puritanism had little support among the majority of Protestant and so never made a serious effort to support the cause
  • He did, however, offer some protection to Puritans by limiting the extent to which Elizabeth cracked down on them
• How did Elizabeth and her government deal with Puritans?

  • The Puritans' refusal to accept her religious settlement was a challenge to her authority and something she would not allow
  • In 1583 the new Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift, introduced rules banning unlicensed preaching and enforcing attendance at church by imposing recusancy fines with the queen's backing
  • A new High Commission was given the power to fine and imprison Puritans who did not conform
  • Puritans were producing increasingly extreme publications calling for the reorganisation of the Church and the persecution of those they saw as having Catholic sympathies, which lost them a lot of support
  • Elizabeth had Puritan printers punished, such as John Stubbs who had his right hand chopped off for criticising official marriage talks with the Duke of Anjou and Alecnon
  • Whitgift's campaign broke the organisation of the Puritans