She would have been a serious threat to the queen as Mary had a claim to the English throne which was based on the fact that she was the grand-daughter of Margaret Tudor (Henry VIII’s sister). In the eyes of the Catholics, Mary's claim appeared stronger than Elizabeth's because they believed that Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn was illegal. This would have seriously threatened Elizabeth’s security as there was a possibility that Elizabeth could lose her place on the English throne, therefore endangering her safety, royal supremacy, religious settlement. However, this threat didn’t remain as on the 19th May 1568, Elizabeth imprisoned her cousin. This shows that Mary, who was a prestigious Catholic, didn’t remain a threat to Elizabeth’s security as she was imprisoned for 19 years and was consequently unable to do anything about Elizabeth being queen.
Also, he passed the Edict of Nantes just so Protestants have freedom to believe whatever they want. Elizabeth I is a politique because she formed peace between the Protestants and Catholics. She repealed the anti- Protestant legislation of Mary Tudor, and guided England to where they can settle their religious differences. Despite what her religion was, Elizabeth I put everything behind her and focused on the good of her country. Both Elizabeth I and Henry of Navarre put politics and the success of the country before their religion.
Another response by Elizabeth was in Document 11, a speech to Parliament in which she states how men are not needed on the throne because she alone can care for society. Throughout these documents, she neglects to defend herself as being able to rightly lead the Church of England. However, in Document 12, her speech to English troops before the attempted invasion of the Spanish Armada, she passionately defends her ability to rule just the same as any king. Elizabeth showed how she was for the people and would lead them as well, as she did with the destruction of
Abigail Archer also suggests that “Mary intended to return England to Catholicism, but she knew Elizabeth was a least tolerant of Protestantism, and therefore posed a risk.” (Archer n.p.) Anne Somerset in her book Elizabeth I suggests that Mary throughout
The Catholics and the Anglicans always have had tension, and when Queen Elizabeth I came to power, she started to execute Roman Catholics. The Church of England became official once more after Queen Mary I’s decision as a Catholic. However, Queen Elizabeth I’s approach was a moderate access to the Anglican belief (Source 7). This approach did not satisfy the Puritans and later caused them to rebel against the Queen. Under Queen Elizabeth I’s rule, the Anglicans had more freedom than before and were not executed for their beliefs.
Elizabeth was a protestant woman and, consequently, people questioned her right to rule England. Woman were seen as inferior and unsuitable at that in time and since as ruler she would take control of the catholic church many wondered if she was fit to ruler England. Because of this concern, it was important for her to stabalize her divine right to power as it applied to religion. This was made possible by the medieval theory of two bodies. “In the theory of two bodies, there was the body natural and the body politic.
Mary I changed England back to Catholic during her reign as Queen, but after she dies and her half sister took the thrown, Elizabeth I changed it back to Protestant in 1558. Even though England was Protestant, she still let some of the Catholic practices stay. Queen Elizabeth I proclaimed England a "middle way", having the new religion be a mix of Calvinism and
The previous reign of Mary I, who was a devout Catholic, had brought with it widespread persecution of Protestants. The bloodshed of that period was still fresh in the minds of Elizabeth 's subjects, particularly her Protestant nobles. As such, the pressure exerted by those nobles to avoid a marriage to a Catholic suitor was great. While her marriage to a man might bring about a rightful male heir to the throne, the religion of
The official name of his church was the Anglican Church. The Anglican church kept most Catholic beliefs but rejected the power of the pope. While on the topic of England Queen Elizabeth was the queen of England and therefore important at this time. Though not all liked her and England, for example Spain sent the power of 130 ships to attack her and England. This was called the Spanish Armada.
However, while Elizabeth was ruling England, many Catholics thought that Mary, Queen of Scotland was a better Queen that Elizabeth and kept saying that Mary should overthrow Elizabeth one day. They saw Elizabeth as a weak person while Mary was kind and strong, seeing how Mary tried her best with Scotland. But it wasn't just Catholics in England that thought Mary was a better suitor, most of the Catholics in Europe thought so as well.
The Queen was the head of the Church of England and every loyal subject was expected to accept and acknowledge that. If you were against the Protestant faith, then you must be against the Queen and the country - a traitor. Anyone wanting to remain a Roman Catholic was seen as a potential traitor and spy.
Philip II’s desire was to get a Catholic England and for it to be under his control. But as Elizabeth rejected his marriage proposal, he became dependent on Mary Queen of Scots succeeding Elizabeth to the throne, either by natural causes or by any of the number of plots against her. Getting England back under Catholic rule would help to reunite England with the rest of Europe. However Philip’s hopes to take power over England ended with the execution of Queen Mary of Scots.
Due to the constant clashing of religious beliefs between the Catholics and the Protestant denominations, left civilization in England to be at constant war with each other over which religion was the true and honest one to follow, because of this violence had engulfed England which resulted in execution, destruction of religious artifacts, and mass-murder. Once Elizabeth came into power, she ensured that the decisions she made were in the best interests of everyone in her kingdom, and the image of being The Virgin Queen helped in the making of those decisions. Elizabeth’s Virgin Queen image helped proved her to be an powerful and great figure in society that everyone could look up to, which made the decisions Elizabeth made easier and more likely to be accepted by both Catholics and protestants due to her god-like image. Elizabeth’s image helped her secure the needs of everyone in her kingdom, which helped avoid civil unrest and provided English society with a sense of peace and
The Elizabethan Era took place in England from 1558 to 1603, which was the time period that Queen Elizabeth I reigned. The official state religion was the New Religion, or the Church of England. Practicing the Catholic faith was strictly forbidden. Religion in Elizabethan England was different than religion today in many ways. During the Elizabethan Era, the rulers had a strong impact on the people’s religious beliefs, as opposed to today, we have religious freedom.
In the spring of 1603, queen Elizabeth I died. The Religious Settlement that was agreed upon during her reign had settled nothing, and the two sides of the conflict, the Protestants and the Catholics, remained resolute in the wish to restle control of the religious life of the English people. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, Protestant exiles that had lived in Geneva returned home. These would form the core of a new line of Protestantism, Puritanism, one that was even more fierce in its defence of sola scriptura. Elizabeth needed to walk a path a moderation, so as not to anger either the Protestants in Germany, nor the Catholic kings of Spain and France.
