'The Elizabethan Religious Settlement was successfully established in the years 1558-1603.'
Assess the validity of this view. (25 marks)
Elizabeth came to the English throne amongst a sea of religious confusion and it was her
duty to settle the numerous disputes. Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement was introduced to
solve the problem of religion in England, however there is debate as to whether it was fully
established. Overall, Elizabeth’s religious policies were established between 1558 and 1603
however they experienced significant opposition from sects within the Church and from
Catholic recusants. Nevertheless, the policies were successful due to the attrition of
opposition.
However, some may disagree that Elizabeth’s settlement was successfully established due
to intense opposition by the Catholic Church. The Religious Settlement included the Act of
Supremacy and Act of Uniformity of 1559 which revoked Papal supremacy and made
Protestantism England’s official faith. Furthermore, they Royal Injunctions 1559 banned a lot
of traditional Catholic Religious features and/or traditions such as relics. Furthermore, the
Thirty-Nine Articles 1563 rejected transubstantiation, a cornerstone of Catholicism. This
caused outrage amongst the Catholic community and resulted in the Northern Rebellion
1569, excommunication by the Pope and challenges to the throne by Mary Queen of Scots.
Whilst Elizabeth’s response to the Northern Rebellion was swift, it occurrence significance a
lack of strength from the Queen in enforcing her Religious Settlement. The rebellion
signified wide spread discontent and the fact the rebels and two nobles, the Earl of
Westmoreland and the Earl of Northumberland, sought to depose Elizabeth altogether
demonstrates that her Settlement had not been successfully established. The Pope’s
excommunication alongside challenges to the throne by Mary Queen of Scots warranted
extreme concern for Elizabeth and demonstrated that her Settlement was becoming a focus
of religious discontent and provoked numerous threats to her position as Queen.
Furthermore, in the 1580s Catholic Priests infiltrated into England, with the assistance of the
Jesuits, and tried to re-Catholicise England resulting in high profile executions, including
those of the Duke of Norfolk as a result of the Ridolfi Plot which was uncovered in 1571. The
Ridolfi Plot planned to overthrow Elizabeth, with the assistance of Spain, and arrange the
marriage of Mary Queen of Scots and the Duke of Norfolk, however it was uncovered before
serious action was taken. Despite this, the fact that the Plot received international
assistance and involved Mary Queen of Scots presented a huge threat to Elizabeth and
showed that her Religious Settlement had not been implemented enough because
opposition felt strong enough to directly oppose her. The execution of the Duke of Norfolk,
and later Mary Queen of Scots, demonstrated that Elizabeth felt the Religious Settlement
had not gone far enough to deter religious opposition hence she had to make a public
display of the executions to deter future opposition. Elizabeth proclaimed that she did not
wish to make windows into men’s souls, yet she imposed strict penalties against Catholics.
For instance, the Penal Laws of 1571,1581 and 1585. This meant that the Church Papists
could no longer escape exist unchallenged and that 123 Catholic priests were executed, it
was also treason to circulate the Papal Bull of Excommunication or encourage people to not
support the settlement. Catholicism was increasingly considered a threat given the plots
and threat from Spain.
