Catholicism Remain A Serious Threat To Elizabeth's Security Throughout The Years 1558-88?

How accurate is it to say that Catholicism remained a serious threat to Elizabeth I’s security throughout the years 1558-88?

A serious threat to Elizabeth’s security would classify as anything which endangered either her safety, royal supremacy, religious settlement or all three. Therefore, it isn’t completely accurate to say that Catholicism remained a serious threat to the Queen’s security throughout the years 1558-88, as many measures were introduced in order to attempt to rid England of Catholicism once and for all. For example, in 1581 two acts were passed against Catholics. The first was that recusancy fines were increased to £20 and higher fines were imposed for hearing or saying mass. The second was that it would be classed as a treasonable

However she was incorrect as many of the people in these groups were prepared to die for their beliefs. For example, in 1568 the first college for seminary priests was founded and here the priests were taught that if it was necessary to do so, they were to see martyrdom in order to re-establish Catholicism. This shows that at the beginning of her reign, there was a serious threat to Elizabeth’s security as if these priests held such strong beliefs then they would risk anything to re-establish Catholicism, even if this endangered Elizabeth’s safety, royal supremacy or religious settlement. However, it is inaccurate to say that this threat remained throughout the years up to 1588 as measures were brought in in order to take care of this theat. An example of one of these was the Act which was passed in 1585 which was against seminary priests and Jesuits. Also, in 1588 alone, 31 priests were executed. This shows that the threat didn’t remain throughout these years as if the Queen was starting to get rid of the Catholics, there would be less of them to actually work towards re-establishing Catholicism. This would make the job harder for them and decrease their chances of actually succeeding. Some may disagree with this view and argue that even though

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. Some may argue that even though Mary was imprisoned, she still remained a serious threat to Elizabeth’s security. The Ridolfi plot was a plot in 1570 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. Therefore, it could be proclaimed that Mary was still a threat to Elizabeth’s security because she was able to still plot against Elizabeth and endanger her safety, supremacy and religious settlement. She also admitted that she was the financial aid behind the plot. This would