Elizabeth 1 Challenges to ELizabeth • Northern Rebellion 1569( northern Earls) • Mary Queen of Scots • Essex Rebellion 1601 • Failed rebellions – Noble ringleaders. • Influence royal policies and harsh penalties on Recusants. Turning points • • • • The arrival of Mary Queen of Scots 1568 Long continuous threat Inspiring Rebellion and Plots Execution of Mary Propaganda • "The monarchy of Elizabeth I was founded upon illusion. She ruled by propagandist images which captivated her courtiers and seduced her subjects - images which have misled historians for four centuries." Christopher Haigh • Elizabeth used a variety of types of propaganda: • Portraits • Pageants • Plays • Tableaux • Speeches Propaganda • She immediately began to discredit Mary's reign. Her propaganda pointed towards her predecessor's reign being a failure due to the government and the reliance upon Spanish help. The Phoenix and the Pelican The pelican, as Susan Doran points out was an image to represent the Protestant religion. The phoenix is linked with this. The phoenix is a mystical bird that rises from its ashes, thereby creating an analogy with the re-birth of Protestantism after Mary's reign. It is also an image of strength as well as being mystical. And finally, it made a link with her mother. When she was crowned, she had a ring placed on her wedding finger to symbolize her marriage to the realm. She took this seriously. She proclaimed on more than one occasion that she was married to the realm, and for that reason would not take a husband. An Unearthly Woman She tried to create the impression that she was not of this earth, and therefore, not prone to (what Tudors believed to be) the shortcomings of womanhood. Women of the C16th were portrayed as meek, humble, domestic and obedient, and married. Elizabeth was none of these. In 1558 John Foxe published The First Blast of the Trumpet in which he claimed that rule by a woman was 'monstrous'. However, Calvin expounded the idea that she was a special woman, whom God had sent to try and do His work with a woman's special touch. Christopher Haigh says that she was a 'political hermaphrodite', trying to be a King as well as a Queen. This image was, perhaps, based on that of The Virgin Mary: chosen by God for a special purpose. The Sieve Portrait The sieve was a symbol of virginity dating from Roman times. A real Queen • Elizabeth appointed Sir William Cecil, the skilled administrator and Protestant, as her Secretary. Their partnership lasted forty years. She refused to name other appointments keeping Mary’s Catholic councilors guessing. • She was quickly crowned Queen Elizabeth I on January 15th 1559 (a two month turn around was remarkably fast in this period). Key people • • • • • • • William Cecil – Lord Burghley Managed Elizabeth's government, her protector against plots. Methods he used to protect the kingdom from rebellion Maintained an effective spy network ( Francis Walsingham) Mary Queen of Scots Her detention inspired Catholic plots Repercussions from her execution – the Armada. • Mary died in the early hours of the 17th November 1558. • The same day Nicholas Heath, Lord Chancellor (head of Mary’s government) and Archbishop of York, proclaimed Elizabeth queen in parliament lending her legitimacy. A new dawn • This was a highly unorthodox move as parliament should have been dissolved as soon as Mary died – many historians see this as the Catholic men of Mary’s court trying to maintain their positions by showing loyalty. Nine of Mary’s councilors rode to Hatfield to pledge Elizabeth their loyalty within days of Mary’s death. The Religious Settlement: • England still remained a Catholic nation as a result of Mary I’s laws. The government needed to come up with a solution upon the legal status of the Church and the form of church services and quickly. People didn’t doubt that Elizabeth would again break with Rome (after all she existed as a result of it). • Yet there were concerns about what the new church under Elizabeth would look like; • Would it be Catholic in practise but without a Pope? Protestant like under Edward Seymour (1549)? • Or even more radical along the lines of the church under Northumberland (1552)? • In the first Act Elizabeth became and prefered the title 'Supreme Governor' of the Church... There were 2 main Acts: Act of Supremacy Act of Uniformity • This appeased the Catholics who could only ever consider the Pope to be God's appointed on Earth, and pleased others who could not bear to think that a human could be God's appointed on Earth - that was Christ. Never mind that God's appointed was this time a woman! Henry would have considered himself of semiecclesiastical rank. Elizabeth did not. • The name "Act of Supremacy" is given to two separate acts of the English Parliament, one passed in 1534 and the other in 1559. • Both acts had the same purpose; to firmly establish the English monarch as the official head of the Church of England, supplanting the power of the Catholic pope in Rome. • What factors enabled Elizabeth to pass these Acts? • Propaganda • Censorship • Physical Force How ?? The use of Royal injunctions to enforce.. • Imprisoning 3 clerics (2 bishops and the Abbot of Westminster) while the vote was being held in the Upper House. The Bill was passed by 3 votes. The doing of Cecil? • Compromise • Political Practice What did the royal injunctions do? Elizabeth also introduced measures to enforce acts, such as the Royal Injunctions Act 1559, which gave clergy a set of instructions including to ban 'fake' miracles and to ban and report recusants. She also sent 125 commissioners to tour the country to check the rules were being followed. • 1552 Book of Common Prayer should be used under pain of imprisonment. The second Act: The Act of Uniformity stated that: • Everyone had to attend church on a Sunday or a Holy day or pay a 12d fine (which went to poor relief). • Fines were imposed for slandering the Prayer Book or trying to prevent its proper use. • The wording of communion allowed for differing interpretations (including transubstantiation). • Church vestaments from the 2nd year of the reign of Edward were to be reintroduced. • All members of the clergy were to swear an Oath of Supremacy. • It was a mixture between the religious legislation of Edward's reign and that of the reign of Henry VIII. Implications of the Second Act • But this Act was not easy to pass. There was strong opposition in the Lords. • The Commons largely supported, but there were a few dissenting voices. • What were the implications of these Acts? • The clergy had to swear an oath of supremacy. All but 1 of the bishops refused to sign. But almost all of the lower orders signed. (4% refused - 300/8000). • Rather than a compromise, it caused division. Some of the Acts appeased neither the Marians that hung on, nor the Lutheran reforming groups. For example the injunction about the presence of Christ at the Eucharist upset both groups. Further Acts • She also managed to pass through a number of other Acts... • She repealed the Marian Heresy laws. • She set up a commission to ensure order in the churches, and to stamp out ill practice. • Clergy had to preach at least four times per year. • Each parish had to have a complete copy of the Bible in English. • An article on Eucharist denied the presence of Christ during the Eucharist. • The Act of First Fruits and Tenths was passed again. No money to go to Rome. • Dissolution of the monasteries and chantries that Mary had restored. • Act of Exchange meant that the Queen could claim the revenue from vacant sees. Implications of these Acts • There were financial rewards to be gained from these Acts. Especially, the First Fruits and Tenths, dissolution of the monasteries and the chanteries and from taking vacant sees. The crown's acquisition of First Fruits and Tenths alone increased the crowns revenue by £40 000 p.a. • The increased revenue was good news as England was still at war with France, and an invasion from Scotland was expected at any time • Strangely enough, the part, which caused greatest controversy in the 1560s, and later lead to a breakaway group of non-conformists was the article about the vestements! • Lotherington maintains that there were no guarantees that there would be a return to Protestantism. (Was it a matter of returning?) • Pollard held that Elizabeth wanted to design a church according to her wishes. • J.E. Neale said that she wanted a return to Henrician Catholicism without the Pope, and it was the return of exiles that made it more radical, i.e. a 'Church of England'. • More recently, N Jones argued that it was the result of a struggle between the House of Lords, the Queen, council, and the Bishops. He says the settlement was a triumph for the Queen. • Regan sides with Jones quite a lot. He says that the Settlement does reflect quite closely Elizabeth's own religious views. • Regan - she wanted to create a church where as many believers as possible would be able to find salvation. Historiography Catholicism In her early years Elizabeth was tolerant of Catholicism behind closed doors – this changed though with the threat of MQS, the Northern Rebellion (1569), excommunication (1570) and her foreign policy with Spain. Life as a Catholic • Under Elizabeth I, Catholics grew adept at concealment. Their lifeblood – the Mass – was banned. Anyone who heard it risked a fine and prison. Hence the need for secret Mass-kits and altar-stones small enough to slip into the pocket. Their priests – essential agents of sacramental grace – were outlawed. • Reconciling anyone to Rome (and, indeed, being reconciled) was made treason. After 1585, any priest ordained abroad since 1559, and found on English soil, was automatically deemed a traitor and his lay host a felon, both punishable by death. At the disobedient end of the spectrum were those individuals (8,590 recorded in 1603) who staunchly adhered to the Roman church’s insistence that compliance was an insult to the faith. They were known as recusants (from the Latin recusare: to refuse) and they paid a high price for their ‘obstinacy’. In 1559 the fine for missing church was 12 pence. In 1581 it was raised to a crippling 20 pounds. On 25 February 1570, Pope Pius V issued a bull of excommunication against Elizabeth I. In late support of the 1569 northern rebellion (led by the Catholic earls of Northumberland and Westmorland and crushed with ruthless efficiency – 450 executions under martial law is the conservative estimate), the bull declared Elizabeth an illegitimate pretender and bound her subjects to disobey her, upon pain of anathema (a formal curse by the pope). Hope • William Allen’s seminary boys started coming off the boats in 1574 then Catholic hopes – and government fears – were revived. • In June 1580, they were joined in England by the Jesuits, members of a dynamic religious order founded in the furnace of the Reformation. • Campion was one of about 130 priests executed for religious treason in Elizabeth’s reign. A further 60 of their lay supporters were also put to death. Torture was used more than in any other English reign. Margaret Ward, destined for the gallows for organising the escape of a priest, protested that “the queen herself, if she had the bowels of a woman, would have done as much if she had known the ill-treatment he underwent”. But it was the heart and stomach of a king that were required for England’s defence. Puritans Puritans Who were they? Gained influence during the 1560s and 1570s. Pushed for further reform of the church – a radical protestant movement. Picked up popularity after the Convocation of Canterbury 1563. A more radical group were the Presbyterians Puritanism survived but it was limited. VestVestiarian Controversy – several figures in the church decide they cannot conform to the set clerical dress established in the Act of Uniformity as they were too aligned with Catholicism. iarian Controversy – Archbishop Matthew Parker and five other bishops issued ‘Advertisements’ calling for a 'comely surplice with long sleeves ', in all 37 clergy men were denied their posts in London. The Queen personally deprived Thomas Sampson a clergyman and academic at Oxford of his post at Christ Church College. Elizabeth continued to push back against further reform. Other changes proposed • Walter Stricklan MP prosposed in 1571 to reform the common book of prayer, abolish the use of surplices, the ring in marriage and kneeling in communion, amongst other seemingling supersitious practices. • He was accused of infringing on the Queens perogative as Supreme governer and he was barred from the House but was returned . • Antony Cope a presbyterian MP... what he proposed was nothing short of overturning of the government nad the practice of the church, he was defended by MP Throckmorton but the Queen sent for the Bill and the Book, was not impressed and both were sent to the Tower.. A big setback for the Puritans :( Other religious movements • Presbyterians • Seperatists who were not prepared to conform • Jesuits and Missionaries This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA. With no named successor, and a Catholic heir presumptive – Mary, Queen of Scots – waiting, wings clipped but ready to soar, Elizabeth I was vulnerable to conspiracy. 1585 parliament passed a statute licensing the revenge killing of assassins, or witting beneficiaries of assassins, in the event of a successful attempt on the queen’s life The threat from Spain, the papacy, the French house of Guise and the agents of Mary, Queen of Scots was very real and seemingly unceasing. In reality, there were very few Elizabethans willing to perpetrate what would now be called an act of terror.
