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Elizabeth I's religious settlement
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Elizabeth I - ReligionWhat was the Church Settlement?
- Was established 1559 - 1563
- Was laid down mainly by Parliament of 1559 which passed four Acts relating to religion
- AIM = to reach a compromise acceptable to both Catholics and Protestants.
-An Act of Supremacy, dealing with Church organisation
-An Act of Uniformity which dealt with religious belief
Two acts dealing with church property
-Act of Exchange - allowed Queen to use revenues from dioceses if there was a vacancy for a bishop.
-the other Act restored to the monarch money derived from the First Fruits and Tenths under Mary I.
- Royal Injunctions - July 1559. Religious practice not included in Act of Supremacy.
- 1563 - Convocation rather than Parliament, produced the Thirty Nine Articles - contained main statements
of belief of the Church of England. Parliament approved in 1571 with the passage of the Subscription Act.
What religious changes were made by the Elizabethan Church Settlement?
Act of Supremacy, May 1559
Elizabeth’s aims:
- To please those of her subjects who objected to a woman as ‘Head’ of the Church.
- Not offend the Pope by suggesting that the issue was negotiable
- Satisfy both Protestants and Catholics by suggesting the possibility of a compromise.
What did the act do?
- Abolished papal authority in England and restored the monarch as ‘Supreme governor’ of the Church.
- New title did not diminish her power over the Church because the legal clauses in the Act ensured that
she would have the same ecclesiastical authority as her father and brother.
- The act also required all the clergy to take an oath recognising the Royal Supremacy over the Church -
gave Elizabeth the opportunity to remove Catholic clergy who refused the oath. All but two Catholic
bishops refused.
- When the oath was issued to the lower clergy only 4% refused to take it - about 200 in all, in the period
November 1559 to November 1564.
- The Act also required a visitation of the Church nationwide. The first began at the end of June 1559 to
administer the Oath of Supremacy and to deliver the new Royal Injunctions on Religion.
- A commission of clergy and laymen was created - the Court of High Commission - used to locate and
prosecute people with Catholic sympathies.
Act of Uniformity, May 1559
What did the act do?
- Dealt with religious beliefs
- Made attendance at church on Sundays and Holy Days compulsory.
- Fine of 12d for non-attendance - money used to aid the poor.
- new Book of Common Prayer - controversial as as the book was based on the Edwardian Books of
Common Prayer of 1549 and 1552 but there were significant differences.
- Wording used during communion service was a combination of words from the 1549 Book followed by
words from the 1552 Book.
- The formula of words was a masterstroke of compromise because it contained the possibility of pleasing
both Catholics and Lutherans, who believed in the spiritual presence of Christ at communion and the
Zwinglians who regarded communion as merely a way to remember the last supper.
- Also allowed crosses and candlesticks to be placed on the communion table and laid down regulations
for the type of clothes worn by clergymen.
- The dress regulations led to the Vestiarian Controversy of 1566.
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