The Church was responsible for helping to enforce Elizabeth’s religious settlement. Inspections of churches and clergy were carried out by bishops to make sure everyone took the oath of supremacy and to check their preaching licences.
When were the religious settlements implemented?
They were implemented in the Act of Uniformity and the Act of Supremacy of 1559. What key changes to religion did the Religious Settlement introduce? There were 4 important changes made by Elizabeth.
Why was the religious settlement of 1559 necessary?
As a Protestant, Elizabeth had to tread carefully between both faiths to maintain unity. Why was the Religious Settlement of 1559 necessary? England was in religious turmoil and there were several problems Elizabeth needed to face when tackling the issue.
What was the religious settlement in England?
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 17 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2022. Elizabeth I quickly needed a religious settlement for Tudor England after the years of religious turmoil her subjects had experienced. This came in 1559 and is known as the Religious Settlement.
What was the Elizabethan Religious Settlement?
The Elizabethan Religious Settlement was contained in two acts – the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity. This required all clergymen and government officers to take an Oath of Supremacy. By this they were to swear that they would accept Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church.
What helped Elizabeth enforce the Religious Settlement?
The Act of Supremacy The queen's reassertion of control over religious matters was achieved via the April 1559 CE Act of Supremacy, once more closing the door on the Pope. Elizabeth had taken the decision to arrest any Catholic bishops that did not accept her authority as sovereign over them.
How did the Religious Settlement work?
The Religious Settlement aimed to ease the tensions created by the religious divisions of the previous 25 years. It tried to take elements from both Protestantism and Catholicism, but since many Protestants had become MPs, the Settlement was perhaps more Protestant than Elizabeth would have liked.
What were the responses to the Religious Settlement?
About 250 out of 9,000 priests refused and lost their jobs. Many devout Catholic bishops resigned and therefore did not provide strong opposition. Their positions were filled by loyal supporters. Recusancy fines were not strictly enforced.
How was the Religious Settlement challenged?
Many couldn't make this compromise and left to live in exile abroad. Others grudgingly accepted the new regime. Those who refused to attend Church of England services (recusants) were forced to pay a fine of a shilling a week for not attending church on Sundays or holy days.
How successful was the Religious Settlement?
All members of the Church had to take the oath of supremacy under the Act of Supremacy if they were to keep their posts. 8,000 priests and less important clergy did so. There were 10,000 parishes in England at this time so this shows that the religious settlement was largely successful.
What is a Religious Settlement called?
The Elizabethan Religious Settlement is the name given to the religious and political arrangements made for England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603).
How did people react to Elizabeth's Religious Settlement?
Elizabeth's tolerant approach seemed to have worked on the whole, but it did not keep everyone happy and she faced numerous threats. Opposition came not only from Catholics, but also from more extreme Protestants, known as Puritans , who objected to any compromise with Catholic ideas.
How did Puritans oppose the Religious Settlement?
Puritans wanted all aspects of Roman Catholicism removed from the English Church. One of the major conflicts with Puritans came in the form of the Vestment Controversy during the 1560s. Vestments are the clothing that Priests wear in the Protestant and Catholic Churches when celebrating the church service.
Why did the Puritans not like the Religious Settlement?
Puritans were strict Protestants who wanted to 'purify' the Church and get rid of all traces of the Catholic faith. Many had fled abroad when Mary I, a Catholic, was queen, but had started to return when Elizabeth, a Protestant, came to the throne.
When was the Religious Settlement?
Debating the Elizabethan religious settlement The first act passed by the House of Commons in February 1559 joined together a bill of supremacy, establishing Queen Elizabeth I as head of the church, with one of uniformity, dealing with the type of faith and service.
What impact did religion play in early English settlements?
Religion was the key to the founding of a number of the colonies. Many were founded on the principal of religious liberty. The New England colonies were founded to provide a place for the Puritans to practice their religious beliefs. The Puritans did not give freedom of religion to others, especially non-believers.
What religion was the first settlers?
The earliest colonies of New England were founded between 1620-1638 by separatists and Puritans seeking to establish religious communities in which they could worship freely.
What were the religious reasons for colonization?
Colonization in the early modern period was as much about religious missions, about “the harvest of souls,” as it was about expanding territorial boundaries and economic resources (Lachenicht, et al. 2016, cited under General Overviews).
What role did religious freedom play in American settlement?
What role did religious freedom play in American settlement? Religious freedom attracted settlers to America. English Protestants sought to structure their society so that every part of life experienced the renewal of the Reformation. Quakers, Roman Catholics, and others came to America to escape persecution.
What was the Religious Settlement?
The Religious Settlement was an effort by Elizabeth I to unite the country. It was intended to resolve the dispute between Catholics and Protes...
Why was the Religious Settlement of 1559 necessary?
England was in religious turmoil and there were several problems Elizabeth needed to face when tackling the issue....
What differences between Catholics and Protestants caused the Religious Settlement?
Catholicism and Protestantism beliefs differed in many ways: ❖...
How were the changes of the Religious Settlement implemented?
They were implemented in the Act of Uniformity and the Act of Supremacy of 1559.
What key changes to religion did the Religious Settlement introduce?
There were 4 important changes made by Elizabeth. ❖ The...
What was the outcome of the Religious Settlement?
England became a more secular society. Protestantism was the official religion of England, but Catholicism was also accepted, instead of its foll...
What was the reaction of the Catholics to the Religious Settlement?
England had been a Catholic nation under the rule of the previous monarch, Mary I. Catholics were not happy with the Religious Settlement....
What was the reaction of the Puritans to the Religious Settlement?
Puritans were unhappy with the settlement as they believed that Elizabeth should have legislated for a truly radical Puritan church.
What was the purpose of the Religious Settlement?
The Religious Settlement was an effort by Elizabeth I to unite the country. It was intended to resolve the dispute between Catholics and Protestants. As a Protestant, Elizabeth had to tread carefully between both faiths to maintain unity.
Why were the Puritans unhappy with the settlement?
Puritans were unhappy with the settlement as they believed that Elizabeth should have legislated for a truly radical Puritan church.
How many changes did Elizabeth make?
There were 4 important changes made by Elizabeth.
What religion did England follow?
England became a more secular society. Protestantism was the official religion of England, but Catholicism was also accepted, instead of its followers being persecuted.
Was England a Catholic country?
England had been a Catholic nation under the rule of the previous monarch, Mary I. Catholics were not happy with the Religious Settlement.
Why did Elizabeth I need a religious settlement?
Elizabeth I quickly needed a religious settlement for Tudor England after the years of religious turmoil her subjects had experienced. This came in 1559 and is known as the Religious Settlement. However, just how much it actually settled in religious terms is open to debate as both Puritans and Catholics had become entrenched in their views and position. If religious turmoil continued after the 1559 Settlement it was probably more as a result of their unwillingness to compromise as opposed to the government’s stance – though this was still obviously an issue of contention post-1559.
Where was Catholicism enforced?
Roman Catholicism was enforced in England and Wales during the reign of Mary I. Protestants were persecuted and a number were executed as heretics. Many…
What problems did Elizabeth face in England?
In England itself, Elizabeth faced problems over religion. The first was when Convocation stated its belief in Papal supremacy and its support for the doctrine of transubstantiation. This was clearly a snub for any form of conciliation towards the Protestants who would have viewed both statements with contempt.
What happened during the Easter Recess of 1559?
The arrest and imprisonment in the Tower of two catholic bishops during the Easter Recess of 1559 may have also ‘persuaded’ some Catholics in the Lords that it was in their best interests to support the new Queen. The Act of Uniformity (1559) just about passed the Lords.
What was the religious settlement in Tudor England?
Many held views that put them firmly into one corner or the other. The 1559 Religious Settlement was an honest attempt to bring as many as was possible into the fold – but it could never have satisfied the wishes of those who were at the religious extremes of society.
What would have been easy for Elizabeth to stir up the capital’s poorer population?
It would have been very easy for them to stir up the capital’s poorer population, especially if they had a scapegoat – the Catholics . Elizabeth tried to control the behaviour of these men but within a very large and densely populated city, this proved to be very difficult.
Why did Protestants return to Europe?
On the death of Mary and the accession of Elizabeth, many hard-line Protestants returned from mainland Europe (where they had fled for their own safety during the reign of Mary) in the full expectation that they were returning to a state where Protestantism was the one and only tolerated religion.
What was the name of the religious settlement that led to the Reformation?
Part of England's switch to Protestantism. Queen Elizabeth I. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement is the name given to the religious and political arrangements made for England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) that brought the English Reformation to a conclusion. The Settlement shaped the theology and liturgy of the Church ...
What was the name of the religion that was forced out of the Church of England after the Restoration?
After the Restoration in 1660, the Settlement was restored, and the Puritans were forced out of the Church of England. Anglicanism became defined by the via media or middle way between the religious extremes of Catholicism and Protestantism; Arminianism and Calvinism; and high church and low church .
What was the dominant theology within the Church of England?
Throughout the reigns of Elizabeth and James I, Calvinism was the predominant theology within the Church of England. The Settlement failed to end religious disputes. While most of the population gradually conformed to the established church, a minority of recusants remained loyal Roman Catholics.
What were the thirty nine articles of religion?
The Thirty-nine Articles were not intended as a complete statement of the Christian faith but of the position of the Church of England in relation to the Catholic Church and dissident Protestants. In 1571, Convocation finalised the Thirty-nine Articles. It was given statutory force by the Subscription Act, which required all new ministers to affirm their agreement with this confessional statement.
What was the Elizabethan settlement?
The Elizabethan Settlement, sometimes called the Revolution of 1559, was an attempt to end this religious turmoil. The Act of Supremacy of 1558 re-established the Church of England's independence from Rome, and Parliament conferred on Elizabeth the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Act of Uniformity of 1559 re-introduced the ...
When did the royal visitation begin?
In the summer of 1559, the government conducted a royal visitation of the dioceses. The visitation was conducted according to injunctions based on the Royal Injunctions of 1547. These new royal injunctions were meant to fill in the details of the settlement and were to be enforced nationwide by six groups of clerical and lay commissioners. All of the leading clergymen were Protestants and former exiles ( Robert Horne, Thomas Becon, Thomas Bentham, John Jewel, Edwin Sandys, and Richard Davies ), and they interpreted the injunctions in the most Protestant way possible.
When was the prayer book made illegal?
In 1645 , the Prayer Book was made illegal and replaced by the Directory for Public Worship. The Directory was not a liturgical book but only a set of directions and outlines for services. The Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 allowed for the restoration of the Elizabethan Settlement as well.
What was the Religious Settlement?
When Elizabeth had come to the throne in 1558 she sought a ‘middle way’ between Catholics and Protestants. To ensure this the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 was deliberately vague and gave little mention of liturgy (the way religion should be practised). This meant that as long as the people recognised Elizabeth’s supremacy (authority) over the Church and at least followed the new prayer book they were safe. It held the same structure as the Catholic Church in that bishops retained responsibility for the organisation, administration and supervision of the church and its clergy.
Why was Elizabeth divided?
When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 her people were divided by religion. Since the reign of Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father, religion had been a point of conflict. In order to marry Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, Henry had divorced Catherine of Aragon which meant that Catholics did not see Elizabeth as a rightful queen.
What was the purpose of the Religious Settlement?
It was designed to settle the divide between Catholics and Protestants and address the differences in services and beliefs.
Why was the Religious Settlement challenged?
However, it was an attempt to solve the religious division that existed within England at the time and was never going to please everyone.
How did Mary I reintroduce Catholicism?
Under her reign, Mary I had reintroduced Catholicism in England. She did this by overturning the Supremacy Acts that Henry VIII had created. When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 she worked with the Privy Council to create a religious settlement that would unite the country into one Church. This meant starting with the Supremacy Acts created ...
What was the Act of Supremacy?
This Act made Elizabeth the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and ensured that the Roman Catholic Church had no say over the workings and beliefs of the Church of England.
What was the Act of Uniformity 1559?
This Act reintroduced the Book of Common Prayer and set out what the English Church service should look like as well as setting out how the inside of churches should look. The Act also detailed what priests should wear too.
Overview
Reception
The settlement of 1559 had given Protestants control of the Church of England, but matters were different at the parish level, where Catholic priests and traditional laity held large majorities. The bishops struggled for decades to impose the prayer book and Injunctions on reluctant parishes. "For a while, it was possible to sustain an attenuated Catholicism within the parish framewor…
Background
Elizabeth I inherited a kingdom bitterly divided over matters of religion. This division began during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. After his wife, Catherine of Aragon, failed to produce a male heir, Henry applied to the pope for an annulment of his marriage. When his request was denied, Henry separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church and claimed that he, rather …
Elizabeth's accession
Elizabeth's religious views were Protestant, though "peculiarly conservative". She also kept many of her religious views private, which can make it difficult to determine what she believed. She disliked married clergy, held Lutheran views on Eucharistic presence, and there is evidence she preferred the more ceremonial 1549 prayer book. At certain times, the Queen made her religious preferences clear, such as on Christmas Day 1558, when before Mass she instructed Bishop Ow…
Legislation
When the Queen's first Parliament opened in January 1559, its chief goal was the difficult task of reaching a religious settlement. Twenty bishops (all Roman Catholics) sat in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual, and the Lords in general were opposed to change. In February, the House of Commons passed a Reformation Bill that would restore royal supremacy as well as the 1550 Ordinal and …
Implementation
To enforce her religious policies, Queen Elizabeth needed bishops willing to cooperate. Seven bishops, including Cardinal Pole, Mary's Archbishop of Canterbury, died in 1558 and needed to be replaced. The remaining bishops were all Catholics appointed during Mary's reign, and Elizabeth's advisers hoped they could be persuaded to continue serving. Ultimately, all but two bishops (t…
Thirty-nine Articles and the Homilies
The Elizabethan settlement was further consolidated by the adoption of a moderately Protestant doctrinal statement called the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion. While affirming traditional Christian teaching as defined by the first four ecumenical councils, it tried to steer a middle way between Reformed and Lutheran doctrines while rejecting Anabaptist thinking. The Thirty-nine Articles were not intended as a complete statement of the Christian faith but of the position of the Church of …
Aftermath
In 1603, the King of Scotland inherited the English crown as James I. The Church of Scotland was even more strongly Reformed, having a presbyterian polity and John Knox's liturgy, the Book of Common Order. James was himself a moderate Calvinist, and the Puritans hoped the King would move the English Church in the Scottish direction. James, however, did the opposite, forcing the Scottish Chur…