How did Elizabeth change religion in Tudor times?

L/O – To identify the changes Elizabeth made to religion in England

Mary dies• On 17th November 1558, Mary I

died after only 5 years as Queen. She had no children.

• Her half-sister Elizabeth was appointed the next Queen and when she heard about her sisters death, she fell to her knees and said, ‘This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.’

The Religious Settlement• Elizabeth was a Protestant and

wanted England to be Protestant too.

• Elizabeth was not a religious fanatic like Mary and she wanted to avoid the religious problems caused by Mary and Edward.

• She tried to avoid the extremes of both Protestants and Catholics, hoping to please most English and avoid civil war.

‘There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. All else is a dispute over trifles.’ Elizabeth I

How did she please Catholics?1. She made herself Governor, not Head, of

the Church of England. – Catholics could still think of the Pope as Head of the Church.

2. New English Prayer Book replaced the one from Edward’s reign that Catholics hated.

3. Bishops were kept to please Catholics.

4. Strict Catholics were not punished but had to pay a fine for not going to Protestant church and became known as recusants.

Why do you think

Elizabeth was reluctant to

burn heretics?

Think about the main aim

of her religious

settlement.

How did she please Protestants?1. In reality, she was still in charge of

the English church – not the Pope.

2. Priests were allowed to marry again.

3. Religious services were in English again.

4. Protestant ways of worship were re-introduced.

How successful was Elizabeth’s religious settlement?

Challenges to her Settlement• Committed Catholics continued to

believe the Pope was the Head of the Church. Their loyalty to Elizabeth was divided.

• France and Spain paid for Catholic priests to be trained and sent back to England. They were called Jesuits.

• Some Jesuits were executed because they were not loyal to Elizabeth!

Challenges to her SettlementIn 1586, the English Catholic exile Sir Francis Englefield

described the attempt to reconvert England to the old faith:

From a government proclamation of 1588 about Catholics:

"In stede therfore of the sword, which we cannot obtayne, we must fight with paper and pennes,

which can not be taken from us."

…[Catholics are] in favour of the Pope whom they make their God on the earth… deny their allegiance to her

Majesty their sovereign natural Lady and Queen, and [seek] to change and subvert the happy state of the realm, and

make the same subject to the Popes will…

Do you think the government was right to worry about Catholics?

Challenges to her Settlement• Protestants also threatened her

settlement.

• Extreme Protestants were called Puritans. They thought Elizabeth didn’t go far enough. They wanted all traces of Catholicism to be erased.

• They were openly critical and one Puritan, John Stubbs, had his right had cut off!

Who do you think was the biggest threat to Elizabeth’s

religious settlement – Catholics or

Puritans?

Challenges to her Settlement