Elizabeth I: The Settlement
Accession
In November 1558, Elizabeth, recognised as Mary’s rightful successor, became Queen of England.
She was coronated January 1559.
Mary’s death and Elizabeth’s succession was announced in parliament; legally a monarch’s death
should have brought about the dissolution of Parliament, politically however, it was a significant
move as it showed that the political elite supported Elizabeth’s succession.
Her first few months as Queen were relatively triumphant; she clearly believed that she was entitled to
rule the kingdom and gave order ‘as absolutely as her father did’. Although she had no desire to
directly involve herself in every detail of government, she was determined to preserve the prerogative
powers of the Crown (right to call, prorogue (suspend) and dissolve parliament; declare war and make
peace; appoint/dismiss minister and judges; determine the monarch’s marriage; name a successor).
Branches of Protestantism
All believed in justification by faith alone.
Lutheranism: Pushed for reform of the Church but maintained Catholic liturgical practices and
teachings, such as the emphasis on Eucharist (Christ’s body & blood is present in the bread and wine;
anyone consuming them would rake God’s presence directly into themselves, allowing the cleansing
of sin - consubstantiation). Belief that anyone can gain Salvation and go to Heaven.
Calvinism: Inspired by Zwinglianism. Believes in predestination (view that men cannot change the
order of the Universe as envisioned by God, therefore, only a certain number of people are destined
to go to Heaven) and Eucharist in a spiritual sense.
Zwinglianism: More radical version of Calvinism. Believes in double predestination.
Presbyterianism: Form of Puritanism. More radical version of Calvinism. Denied all hierarchy and
female leadership.
Separatism: Form of Puritanism. Not part of the established Church. They do not desire reform;
rather a completely new Protestant Church.
Puritanism: Not a specific group. Describes people in England who were discontent with the extent of
reform and advocated greater purity of worship and doctrine. Many shared the beliefs of Calvinists.
1559 Relgious Settlement
There was never any doubt that ties with Rome would be severed. What was uncertain was the nature
that the established Church would take. Elizabeth could create an ‘Anglo-Catholic’ Church (whose
doctrines and practices remained essentially Catholic but rejected papal supremacy), a moderate
Protestant Church (similar to that implied by the 1549 Act of Uniformity) or a radically evangelical
Church (similar to that implied by the 1552 Act of Uniformity).
Elizabeth wanted to establish a settlement of religion which would heal the divisions between
Catholics and Protestants and maximise her own control over the Church, rather than creating
something which reflected her own personal theology.
o NB. Elizabeth arguably preferred Protestant ideas, for example, even before the Settlement
was reached, she walked out of the Royal Chapel when priests elevated the host on Christmas
Day 1558 (an important aspect of Catholic Mass). However, there was also evidence that
Elizabeth liked traditional teaching, for example, she forbade clergymen to live with their
wives on cathedral grounds.
Political considerations were also important; in 1558, England was still at war with Catholic France
(which was allied with Scotland, whose young queen, Mary, was wife of the heir to the French throne
, and next in line to England). Thus, any alteration of religion was bound to impact England’s
relationship with France and Scotland, as well as Catholic Spain.
The nature of Elizabeth’s Church was established in the Religious Settlement which included the Act
of Supremacy, the Act of Uniformity, a set of royal injunctions to enforce both acts, the publication of
a new Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles (although, this was a little later, in
1563).
It should be noted that the Settlement contained no statement of faith. Elizabeth was probably content
to avoid further antagonising Catholics at home and abroad, and taking side in the theological dispute
which were dividing Protestant Europe.
The 1559 Act of Supremacy
In February 1559, Elizabeth attempted to introduce a bill to revive royal supremacy. Catholic bishops,
who then influenced the nobles, blocked it. It took a rigged religious dispute which made the bishops
look obdurate, the arrest of 2 of the most outspoken and the use of more conservative wording to pass
it the act in April.
The act established the English monarch as head of the Church, giving the Crown legislative authority
to act in matters relating to the Church. It also restored Henry VIII’s Reformation legislation, repealed
the heresy laws which had been revived under Mary, re-established Communion in Both Kinds and
revived powers of royal visitation of the Church.
o Interestingly, commissioners were given the powers to ‘visit, reform, order, correct and
amend all such errors heresies, schisms, abuses, offences, contempts and enormities…’,
giving them potentially huge amounts of powers as the act did not define ‘heresies’.
Elizabeth chose the title ‘Supreme Governor’ instead of ‘Supreme Head’ because it was less
controversial. This may have been a concession to Catholic opinion, reflection of misogynistic
attitudes towards women or reflection of the assumption that only God could be head of the Church.
The act required that clergymen swear an Oath of Supremacy, with penalties for those who refused to
do so. The Court of High Commissions was established to investigate and prosecute those who
refused.
Most Marian bishops felt unable to take the Oath of Supremacy and were deprived of their posts.
It is estimated that 400 parish clergymen lost their positions.
Appointments of new clergymen
In refusal to swear the Oath of Supremacy, the entire Bishop’s Bench (the 26 Bishops who were
automatically appointed to the House of Lords), which was made of Marian Roman Catholics,
resigned.
Elizabeth had to fill the rest of the bishoprics. With most leading Protestants having been persecuted
under Mary, she was left with émigrés returning from exile: the Coxians (mostly Calvinists) and
Knoxians (mostly Presbyterians).
Although, Coxians were inevitably going to question aspects of the Settlement, they held much more
reasonable views than the Knoxians. Thus, Elizabeth was forced to rely on the Coxians. For example,
Edmund Grindal was appointed Bishop of London and later Archbishop of York and Richard Cox
became Bishop of Ely.
Mathew Parker, a moderate Protestant, was appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury.
The 1559 Act of Uniformity
Aim was to restore a single form of worship across the country. It was vital to have a united Church in
the face of challenge from the Catholic Counter-Reformation.
The act specified the use of a single Book of Common Prayer, which was a fusion of the 1549 book
(which used moderate lanuage) and the 1552 book (which was strongly Protestant).
, For example, it struck a balance between beliefs regarding the Eucharist: it allowed that possibility
that Christ’s body and blood were really present in the bread and wine (appeasing Catholics and
Lutherans) AND preserved the memorial aspect of the service (appeasing Calvinists). MacCulloch
described it as ‘a masterpiece of theological engineering’.
The book omitted the ‘Black Rubric’, which had been included in the 1552 Prayer Book, to deny the
Catholic practice of kneeling during Eucharist. This was disliked by Protestants who felt that it hinted
at Catholicism.
The act also specified that ornament and vestments should be those which were in place during the 2 nd
year of Edward’s reign BEFORE the passing of the 1549 Act of Uniformity. This meant that although
altars were replaced by Protestant communion tables, Catholic artifacts, such as crosses and candles,
could be placed on them and priests were told what to wear when conducting services (another nod
towards Catholicism). This was the root cause of many problems.
The act further laid down that those who did not attend church could be fined one shilling.
The Act of Uniformity was passed by the narrow margin of 3 votes (and this was only after the Crown
had imprisoned and intimidated several Catholic priests). Moreover, larger concessions were made,
for example, aspects of the Book of Common Prayer were left ambiguous, allowing priests to perform
a ‘counterfeit’ version of Mass.
The 1559 Injunctions
These were 57 instructions which set out how to conduct Church services and the governance of the
Church.
The Injunctions were mostly Protestant in nature: removal of anything superstitions (Catholic
practices such as pilgrimages and the use of candles); use of a communion table instead of an alter for
the Eucharist; all churches were to have a copy of the English Bible and Erasmus’s Paraphrases.
However, there were hints towards Catholicism: ordered clergy to don particularly clothing; allowed
to use of Church music in Sunday services.
The Injunctions also reflected Elizabeth’s individual beliefs, for example, prospective wives of the
clergy had to produce a certificate signed by 2 JPs to signify that they were ‘fit’ for the role (reflects
her Catholic belief that clerics should not marry).
Immediate reaction to the Settlement
Although the entire Bishop’s Bench and 400 priests were deprived of their positions as they refused to
swear the Oath of Supremacy, compared to the 800 or so Protestants who fled abroad and the 300 who
were persecuted under Mary, opposition between 1559-63 to Elizabeth’s relgious changes was
minimal.
o This, alongside the 1558, influenza virus, did created vacancies, absenteeism and pluralism;
Ely had sufficient priests for only 1/3rd of its parishes. To fill the gaps, qualification
requirement for ordination were lowered, which resulted in an increase in the number of
inadequate priests.
Adherence was patchy. Some ministers simply ignored the new Book of Common Prayer and stuck to
the traditional Catholic form of worship. In York, only 23% endorsed the changes. There were
accounts of parishioners hiding away images rather than destroying them and in Morebath, they
simply covered the altar with a board.
Parishes were also slow to react to changes; the last altars were removed in 1587 and accounts
indicated that at least 50% of parishes kept their vestments and mass utensils for at least a decade
after. Part of this issue was that there had been so many changes over the past 30 years, parishioners,
who had invested hugely in the church, were reluctant to remove/change items lest there be another
reversal in relgious policy.
Localised opposition was often ignored; a survey in 1564 found that only half of the Justice of the
Peace could be relied upon the actively support the Settlement.
