Challenges to the Settlement

• Protestants challenged the religious settlement, but by the late 1560s, most Protestant clergy were doing as Elizabeth required.
• Puritans wanted to purify religion by removing anything not in the Bible.
• Puritans wanted to remove Catholic ideas, as they believed that the Pope was an Anti-Christ.
• Puritans the world to be a more Godly place by banning sinful activity.
• Puritan bishops threatened to resign as a result of crucifixes in churches (to appease Catholics). Elizabeth backed down.
• 37 priests lost their their posts when Puritans resisted vestments.
• Puritans were vocal within society, and there were many at the centre of government. From the 1570s-1580s, many MPs were Puritans or sympathisers.
• However, most Puritans wanted to strengthen the church, and they supported Elizabeth with chances of war with Spain.
• Puritans were not a direct threat to Elizabeth herself. They never called for her removal as they didn't want a Catholic Monarch.
• Puritans were a small minority and their beliefs could not expand to the illiterate majority.
• After the 1580s, the Puritan challenges stopped.
• Puritans were strong in universities in London, as well as South-East England. They had less impact in the North, as Catholics were stronger there.
• The government ignored most demands for reformation.
• The Catholic Church's attempt to reverse the Protestant Reformation in Europe and stop its spread was known as the Counter Reformation.
• In 1566, the Pope issued an instruction to English Catholics to not attend the Church of England.
• Recusants practiced Catholicism in secret.
• Elizabeth tolerated recusants initially, as she didn't want rebellions or religious martyrs.
• Up to 1/3 of Nobility and Gentry were recusants, especially in the North/North-West of England.
• Catholic nobility tended to be from traditional, powerful families under Mary I.
• Catholic nobility resented the loss of influence under Elizabeth and the growing influence of 'Protestant Upstarts' like Robert Dudley and Sir William Cecil.
• The nobility in the North were very influential and had always enjoyed independence from the Crown, so were well placed to incite a rebellion against Elizabeth.
• The threat of Catholic rebellion was increased by the Pope's instruction. This gave them a powerful religious reason to rebel.
• Catholic superpowers, such as France and Spain, were stronger, richer and larger than England, but they had more issues with each other for the time being.
• The Pope excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, encouraging rebellion in England and attack from Catholic powers.
• In 1556, the Dutch rebelled against the Spanish occupation. Elizabeth was pressured to shelter rebels as hundreds of Dutch Protestants were put to death by the Spanish.
• Spain was further angered by England's seizure of the Genoese Loan in 1568. The city of Genoa lent gold to the Spanish government, but the ships were seized by Elizabeth in English ports, arguing it belonged to Italian bankers, not Spain.
• By 1570, the Privy Council feared a Spanish invasion as Spanish rule in the Netherlands was secure (near England).
• The fact that MQS was an alternative Catholic monarch encouraged the Spanish government to plot against Elizabeth.