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AQA A level History Notes - The Tudor Dynasty: Elizabeth I CA$8.37   Add to cart

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AQA A level History Notes - The Tudor Dynasty: Elizabeth I

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AQA A level History Notes on The Tudor Dynasty: Elizabeth I. Notes include all topics under the Elizabeth I part of the course. Topics included are: - Elizabeth I Religion - Elizabeth I Government & Parliament - Elizabeth I Foreign Policy - Elizabeth I Society, Economy and Culture - Elizab...

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  • January 22, 2022
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ELIZABETH I – RELIGION

How Successful was Elizabeth in maintaining a unified Church of England

ELIZABETH I
 During Mary's reign, she had conformed outwardly to the Catholic settlement, although she
continued to use an English Bible
 There was little doubt she was a Protestant – educated by reforming tutors
 At Mass on Christmas day 1558, the new queen rejected transubstantiation, by ordering that
the Host should not be elevated
 She was not as strident as Edward VI, but rather more politically realistic
 She wanted to proceed with caution given the dangers she had experienced in childhood and
under Mary
 She allowed Protestant preaching at court
 She liked some of the ceremonial aspects of the Catholic Church and was not particularly in
support of married clergy

PARLIAMENT
 The dissolution of the monasteries meant that by Elizabeth’s reign there were more lay
peers than spiritual peers – this was important when it came to the Elizabethan settlement.
The exile Richard Cox returned to give the sermon at the opening of Parliament in January
1559
 There were only about 20-25 MPs who were identified as radical Protestants in the House
of Commons. There was at least the same number who could be identified as committed
Catholics. Many were simply concerned with keeping the church land they had gained under
Henry VIII
 9 lay peers voted against the new prayer book in 1559

THE PEOPLE
 Some 800 Protestants had fled to the continent and were now determined to return
 Protestant books dedicated to Elizabeth e.g. the Geneva Bible 1560
 Many people had conformed to Mary’s religious settlement due to the persecution of
Protestants

BISHOPS
There were 10/13 bishopric vacancies in January 1559 so Elizabeth could select who she wanted
to fill these vacancies
At Easter 1559 there was a public disputation between Catholic bishops and Protestant
theologians to try to reduce Catholic opposition to the Royal Supremacy. As a result, Bishop
White of Winchester and Bishop Watson of Lincoln were arrested for challenging the Queen’s
Supremacy

PRIVY COUNCIL
Elizabeth appointed Protestant councillors e.g. William Cecil Nicholas Bacon, Francis Knollys and
the Earl of Bedford. But she also retained some of Mary’s councillors such as the Marquis of
Winchester and several Catholic peers, including the Earls of Arundel, Derby and Pembroke

WHAT WERE ELIZABETH'S OWN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS:
 No clear statement of her vies was left behind
 BUT -> her upbringing = predisposition to Protestantism
 Legitimacy of her mother's marriage 1533 -> hand in hand with the Break with Rome

,  Elizabeth's right to the throne -> opposition to the papacy
 Boleyn faction -> interest in Lutheranism
 Matthew Parker = Anne's chaplain + Elizabeth's tutor -> becomes Archbishop of Canterbury
 Later education -> Catherin Parr (Protestant 1543-7) brought Elizabeth back to court

HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS SHE IN MAINTAINING A UNIFIED CHURCH OF ENGLAND:
 What form would the Church take:
o Anglo-Catholic Church
Church whose doctrines + practivces remained Catholic even though it rejected
papal supremacy
o Moderate Protestant Church
 Similar to that implied by the Act of Uniformity 1549
o Radically evangelical Church
 As implied by the Act of Uniformity 1552?



Religious Settlement

 RS established by 1559 Act of Supremacy + Uniformity (passed with considerable
opposition in HoL)

Act of Supremacy 1559 + Act of Uniformity 1559
 EI declared herself supreme governor of the Church - showed she would be more tolerant
 Set out rules of religious practice + worship + introd new prayer book
 Protestantism made England's official faith but kept some catholic traditions
 Revoked the Heresy Acts + Papal supremacy
 Imposed oath on all clergy + office holders to enforce conformity to the new Prayer Book
 Everyone to attend church on Sunday + other holy days - fines for those who didn’t

The Royal injunctions 1559
 Drafted by Cecil ordered clergy to:
o Observe royal supremacy + preach against papal authority
o Condemn images, relics + miracles
o Preach only with permission - licences
o Marry only with permission
o Observe the Ornaments Rubric

Thirty-Nine Articles 1563
 Passed through convocation 1563 + given statutory auth 1571
 Bishops who drew them up aimed to present a united, protestant front against the
Catholics led by Matthew Parker
 Sought to define the difference between the CofE + Catholic Church
 Broadly supportive of reformed doctrine using ambiguous language
 Historian Doran 'Something of a hybrid'
 At times, Parker's vision of reform was not shared by the queen
o They clashed over issue of married clergy
 CofE becoming more Calvinist in official doctrine but remained ½ reformed in its structures
 They used the 42 articles as a basis under direction of Thomas Cranmer
o 42 articles overturned under Mary but Elizabeth favoured reform

,  The articles are full of ambiguous language allowing for broad definition of faith that
excluded Roman Catholics but included spectrum of Protestant belief BUT firmly
established Anglican church with her as head
 Articles rejected catholic beliefs e.g. Transubstantiation

PROBLEMS THE RELIGIOUS SETTLEMENT SOLVED
 Elizabeth gained control of Church wealth
 The Elizabeth Prayer Book
 It lasted

PROBLEMS THE RELIGIOUS SETTLEMENT DID NOT SOLVE
 Doctrine -> 1 doctrine not established
o Caused confusion + dismayed protestant reformers who had hoped for vigorous
theological debate leading to statements of belief
 Clergy -> loss of leading Catholic clergy members meant Protestants had to be appointed
o Financial + religious confusions meant there was a shortage of properly qualified
clergy
o This + Crown extracting worth of church meant it was approaching poverty
 Pope Pius IV -> expected to excommunicate EI
o Fear of Catholic crusade led council to make early overtures to Protestant German
princes in hope of establishing religious alliances

RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENTS BETWEEN 1559-63
Catholic concessions
 1559 Old vestments allowed to be worn during services + communion table to stand where
altar stood
 1560 Latin edition of Prayer Book allowed requiem celebrations for dead
 1560 crucifix + candles restored to altar + tried to re-establish full Catholic vestments
 1561 evicted wives + children of higher clergy from colleges + cathedral closes rather than
banning clerical marriages
 Penalties for recusants lessened

WHY:
 Religious stance was not as important as international relations was - Spanish armada
+MQS linking with France & looking to get to throne
 religious confusion/conflict had dominated her predecessors reigns often with negative
outcomes - not important
 Security of throne = more important

HoL = Catholic HoC = Puritan Choir

Historiography:
 Neale - Dominant interpretation - 1950
o EI faced pressure form radical clergymen + allies in HoC - 'Puritan Choir'
o Had to accept a more protestant settlement that she had wanted
 Norman Jones 1982 - challenges
o Argued EI + ministers faced political opposition from Catholic bishops + conservative
peers in HoL rather than Puritan Choir
o Bishops + Conservative peers grudgingly accepted the restoration of royal supremacy
they provided much more opposition to the uniformity bill, which was only passed in
Lords by 3 votes

, Why did the Queen retain an episcopal system of Church government?

Episcopate – the bishops; episcopal – a Church governed by bishops
 Responsible for the organisation, administration and supervision of the clergy
 EI wanted to use her bishops to control the Church, and therefore, her subjects
 This would also help if Elizabeth needed (for foreign policy’s sake) to minimize the
differences between her Church and continental Church
 Traditional
 Marian bishops encouraged to stay in their positions, but they refused to swear the Oath of
Supremacy, so they were deprived of their offices
 Elizabeth turned to those who had been Protestant exiles during Mary’s reign
o William Cecil was influential in the appointments that were made
o Attempt to retain Catholic bishops show Elizabeth was interested in presenting
image of religious continuity and to avoid confusion?
o Was she unrealistic hoping Marian bishops would enforce Protestantism?
o Or did she think the bishops would be willing to make these compromises due to
their in-built loyalty to the monarch?
 Using exiled men was therefore risky; how did she know they would be loyal?
o The problem was that they saw the Elizabethan Settlement as a starting point and
expected further reforms
 Elizabeth, however, saw her Settlement as the conclusion
 The Exchange Act 1559 meant that the Queen was given the right to exchange church
property in her possession for non-spiritual property in the possession of the church
 It allowed the Queen to take land and buildings from the Church and force Bishops to pay
rent, adding considerably to the Queen's purse
 Protestant laymen were happy with this stripping of wealth; they hoped this method would
curtain power of bishops (some had been energetic about burning Protestants under Mary)
 The Act also put pressure on the bishops to grant leases to nobility on favourable terms as
to refuse someone who had the queen’s backing would be dangerous


Elizabeth envisaged her bishops less as generals leading armies of Protestant shock-troops and
more as subservient civil servants whose task it was to promote uniformity on the model approved
by her, and whose incomes might be tapped whenever the Queen felt necessary.


What do the Injunctions, Visitations, Crucifix and Vestiarian controversies suggest about the role
of the Queen in shaping the religious settlement in the years after its inception?

 Elizabeth sought to establish a basically Protestant settlement of religion, which
nevertheless emphasised elements of continuity with the Catholic past in the interests of
the stability of the crown
 Royal Supremacy (right of the monarch to government the Church of England)
 Processions banned
 Monuments to ‘fake’ miracles banned
 Pilgrimages forbidden
 Recusants (Catholics who refused to go to attend services of the Church of England)
denounced to the Privy Council or to the JPs
 Preaching was limited; could only take place with official permission and licenses; Master of
Arts degree required; these preachers few and far between
 Elizabeth feared unlicensed preachers could be disruptive, critical of her government and
dangerous to her personal authority over the Church

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