Elizabeth I (1558- 1603)
Elizabeth I: character and aims; consolidation of power, including the Act of Settlement and relations with
foreign powers (1558-63)
Character and aims
Considerably better educated than her sister- shrewder grasp of political processes
Had no desire to involve herself in the details of government like her grandfather H7
However, she took an informed interest in the decision-making process
Determined to preserve the royal prerogative
Short-term aims:
o Consolidate her position
o Settle religious issues
o Pursue a peaceful settlement with the French
Consolidation of power
Sir William Cecil rode 16 miles to tell E1 that her accession had arrived
In some ways a difficult succession- series of bad harvests- food scarce and
expensive- flu that brought about the highest mortality rate since the Black
Death – England had fought a long and disastrous war with France, included the
loss of Calais
Her path to power was eased by the acceptance of her succession by Mary’s key
councillors- e.g. Nicholas Heath proclaimed her succession- no legal right to do so
but this was a significant move as it showed that the political elite collectively
assented to her succession- 9 of Mary’s councillors rode to Hatfield to assure
Elizabeth of their loyalty
Sir William Cecil appointed principal secretary- strong political partner-
relationship lasted almost 40 years
Gained some international confirmation- Philip of Spain- sent his envoy, the
Count of Feria to see Elizabeth- showed he was unwilling to do anything to
disrupt the smoothness of her succession
Elizabethan Religious Settlement
Doubts over what it would look like:
o An Anglo-Catholic church
o A moderate protestant church implied by the Act of Uniformity 1549
o A more radically evangelical church implied by the Act of Uniformity 1552
The Act of Supremacy, 1559
Restored in law the royal supremacy in the church which had been established under
Henry VIII and removed under Mary
The papal supremacy restored by Mary was rejected
The reformation legislation of Henry VIII’s reign was restored
The heresy law revived under Mary was repealed
, The powers of royal visitation of the Church, as enjoyed by HVIII were revived.
Allowed the Crown to appoint commissioners to “visit, reform, order, correct and
amend all such errors, heresies and abuses’
The Act described the queen as supreme governor rather than supreme head of the
church of England as her father had been
An oath of supremacy was to be taken by clergymen and church officials – penalties
for refusing to do so
The act restored the legal position of the crown in relation to the church which had
first established in the reign of HVIII
The Act of Uniformity, 1559
All persons had to go to church once a week or be fined 12 pence
Specified the use of a single Book of common prayer a modified version of the 1552
prayer book. The 2 modifications were that:
Variations in Eucharistic belief were possible in that both 1549 wording, which even
conservative Bishop Gardiner felt able to accept, and 1552 wording derived from the
beliefs of the Swiss reformer Zwingli were (‘Take and eat this in remembrance…’)
permitted.
The ‘Black Rubric’, which had been included in the 1552 prayer book to explain
kneeling at the administration of the Eucharist, was omitted
Act also specified that ‘such ornaments of the church and the ministers thereof’
should be those that were in place before the passing of the act of uniformity in
1549- this would become an issue of contention- many returning protestant exiles
including bishops appointed by E1- cause problems as many Calvinist clergy saw the
ornaments as ‘Popish’ and therefore strongly objected to them
The royal injunctions, 1559
A set of instructions about the conduct of church services and government of the
Church issues in the queens name as supreme governor.
On 3 previous occasions (1536,1538, 1547), royal injunctions had been used by the
crown as a mechanism for imposing its will in relation to church practices
1st injunction made clear their protestant character. Emphasised the suppression of
superstition. These injunctions emphasised that the Eucharist be administered at a
simple communion table rather than at the altar. Like those of 1547, drafted in a way which intended that
they were to be an attack on traditional Catholic practices
Parish churches were required to purchase an English Bible
Visitors nominated by Cecil to enforce the injunctions were strongly protestant.
Thirty Nine Articles 1563- Ambiguous- Bishops who drew up the 39 articles aimed to present a united,
Protestant front against the Catholics, led by Matthew Parker -Sought to define the difference between the
Church of England and the Catholic Church -Broadly supportive of reformed doctrine, ambiguous language -
Unsuccessful in achieving wider aims concerning the remaining features of Catholic practice within the Church
and its structures, disciplinary procedures, services and clerical dress- Their vision of reform was not shared by
the queen -Thus, the Church of England, though it was rapidly becoming Calvinist in its official doctrine,
remained half reformed in its structures
John Neale – queen faced pressure from radical clergymen as well as ‘puritan choir’ in house of commons and so had to accept a much
more protestant prayer book and settlement than she had really wanted
William Haugaard – argued that Elizabeth saw the settlement as final, rather than Neale had argued as a precursor to final reform. Many
of the subsequent religious controversies of Elizabeth’s reign therefore became explicable.
, Winthrop Hudson – Elizabeth and her ministers always intended that the settlement should be firmly protestant and there was never any
serious intention to restore the 1st Edwardian prayer book but experiences to the contrary had to be maintained mainly to keep the
support in the conservative House of Lords
Norman Jones- argued E1 and her minister wanted a complete religious settlement from the start – the political opposition came not from
the puritan choir but the catholic bishops and conservative peers in the house of Lords- provided much opposition to the uniformity bull
which was only passed in the lords by 3 votes
Elizabeth’s relations with foreign powers, 1558-64
The Treaty of Câteau-cambrésis, 1559
When Elizabeth came to the throne, England was in conflict with France. Not only
had this war gone very badly for England with the loss of Calais, it also seriously
weakened the Crown’s finances. Elizabeth wanted to extricate England from this
war.
A peace treaty was concluded Câteau-Cambrésis in April 1559, in which England and
France also reached an agreement over Calais.
France would retain Calais for 8 years after which time Calais would be restored to
English control provided England had kept the peace in the meantime. If France
failed to return Calais, they agreed to pay 500,000 crowns to England
Intervention in Scotland 59-60
Further problems emerged after the death in June 1559 of Henry II of France. Henry
was succeeded by his eldest son, Francis II, whose wife was Mary Queen of Scots –
main catholic claimant to English throne.
Francis’ accession brought the strongly Catholic Guise faction to power in France.
The Guises sought to use Scotland as an instrument of French policy.
French troops were sent to garrison major Scottish fortresses, much to the alarm of
John Knox (radical Calvinist) and the Lords of the Congregation who were seeking
power in Edinburgh.
This led to conflict- the Lords of the Congregation asking Elizabeth for help.
Elizabeth cautious about interfering in the domestic affairs of another nation in
which the subjects were rebelling against sovereign authority. Was reluctant to
intervene in Scotland especially since she didn’t like Knox
Cecil on the other hand strongly supported intervention. Knew that England would
be more secure without a French force north of the border- however he sought the
removal of Mary Queen of Scots
Cecil’s position in the minority on the council- persuaded E1 to intervene by playing
on her insecurity- he pointed to Francis and Mary’s use of the English royal coat of
arms on their own heraldic device
Cecil threatened to resign if Elizabeth did not support him.
Initially intervention was limited to money and armaments, but towards the end of
December 1559 the navy was sent to the Firth of Forth to stop French
reinforcements from landing.
The Lords of the Congregation were offered conditional support at the Treaty of
Berwick in February 1560 and in March 1560 an army was sent North.
