How did she deal with Puritanism

• Puritans


  Strict Protestants who wanted to purify the Church and get rid of all traces of the Catholic faith
• Puritans' actions during Mary I's reign

  1. Fled abroad

  2. Started to return when Elizabeth, a Protestant, came to the throne
• Elizabeth's Religious Settlement


  The country was officially Protestant but still allowed some traditions of Catholic worship
• Many Puritans seemed to accept the settlement at first


  But they soon started organising campaigns to make it more Protestant
• Puritans


  • Preferred ordinary plain clothes
  • Disliked having to wear a surplice or vestment during services
  • Didn't like the idea of bishops
• By 1568 most Puritans had accepted Elizabeth's changes


  A small dedicated group known as Presbyterians refused to give in
• Puritans in Elizabeth's court

  • Sir Peter Wentworth
  • Anthony Cope MP
  • Robert Dudley
  • Sir Francis Walsingham
• Many Catholics were deeply unhappy about the religious settlement


  • They had help from abroad in Spain and France, and also the Pope
  • Many Puritans were wealthy and sat in Parliament, so the threat was apparent from both sides
• Puritan attempts to change the church

  1. In 1566 Puritan MPs demanded that priests should wear plain black gowns

  2. In 1571 Walter Strickland, a Puritan MP, wanted to introduce a new Prayer Book and ban surplices

  3. From 1575-83 the Puritans organised prayer meetings, called 'Prophesyings', to spread their ideas

  4. In 1580, a new separatist church was established in Norwich, led by Robert Browne

  5. In 1583 John Stubbs, a Puritan, wrote a pamphlet criticising Elizabeth for holding marriage talks with a Catholic prince from France

  6. In 1586 Sir Anthony Cope, a Puritan MP, introduced a bill to abolish bishops and establish a new Prayer Book

  7. In 1592, a second separatist church was set up in London, led by Henry Barrow and John Greenwood
• How Elizabeth dealt with Puritan attempts

  1. Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, issued new rules for the Church, requiring all priests to wear a surplice

  2. Elizabeth closed Parliament before Strickland's views could be discussed

  3. Elizabeth ordered Grindal to ban the 'Prophesyings' meetings, he refused, so she suspended him and appointed John Whitgift who banned the meetings and expelled 200 Puritan priests

  4. Browne was arrested but later released

  5. Stubbs had his right hand cut off!

  6. Cope and four of his supporters were imprisoned in the Tower of London

  7. Barrow and Greenwood were arrested and hanged
• Elizabeth was fairly effective with dealing with Puritans, using examples to deter others who refused to conform, such as 30 London-based priests who were expelled from the church