Religious Settlement

• CATHOLICS:

  • Pope = Head of Church
  • Cardinals, Bishops, Priests (can forgive sins)
  • Mass = actual body and blood
  • Priests cannot marry
  • Services/Bible in Latin
  • Vestments
  • Highly decorated church
  • North/West
• PROTESTANTS:

  • Monarch = Head of Church
  • Archbishops, Bishops
  • Only God can forgive sins
  • Bread + Wine represent body and blood
  • Priests can marry
  • Services/Bible in English
  • Simple Vestments
  • Plain, simple church
  • South/East
• PURITANS:

  • No Head of Church
  • Only God can forgive sins
  • Bread + Wine represent body and blood
  • Priests can marry
  • Services/Bible in English
  • No Vestments
  • Whitewashed church, no decoration
  • London/East Anglia
• The religious Settlement aimed to be inclusive for as many as possible.
• ACT OF SUPREMACY (1559)

  • Elizabeth became Supreme Governor of the Church of England
  • All clergy/royal officials to swear an oath of allegiance
• ACT OF UNIFORMITY (1559)

  • Appearance of churches
  • How religious services held
  • Book of Common Prayer (English and ambiguous)
  • All must attend Church or be fined a week's wages
• Royal Injunctions - Set of instructions to clergy reinforcing the 2 acts
• Ecclesiastical High Commission - Established to keep discipline - Disloyal clergy could be punished.
• 80% Success rate - 8000/10000 members of the clergy accepted the settlement.
• Marian Bishops opposed the settlement and had to be replaced.
• The majority of ordinary people accepted the settlement and attended services, though many held on to Catholic Beliefs.
• The Church preached the government's message, as priests needed a government licence.
• The Church enforced the Religious Settlement of 1559
• The Church legitimised Elizabeth's rule, encouraging people to remain loyal and not rebel.
• Visitations - Bishops inspected churches, clergy and licences every 3-4 years.
• Church courts - Marriage, sexual offences, wills, slander, inheritance
• The church offered guidance - Parish Churches helped people in times of hardship and uncertainty.
• Tithe - 10% of people's income or goods produced paid to the church.
• The Parish Clergy in towns had to deal with more issues such as overcrowding, poverty, vagrancy and disease.
• The Parish Clergy was a major figure in village life, responsible for baptisms, weddings and funerals.
• The Parish Clergy in towns dealt with a much wider collection of people - merchants, craftsmen, labourers and vagrants, as well as a wider range of religious beliefs.