Roman Catholicism was a natural ideological threat to Elizabeth’s policies of a national Protestant Church and her belief in the royal supremacy. As a religion which preached loyalty to the Pope and to Rome, it was in obvious conflict with the Elizabethan Settlement which demanded allegiance to England and the Supreme Governor. One of the most ominous traits of Roman Catholicism at the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign was its resilience: Catholicism and Papists had survived throughout the nationalisation of the Church by Henry VIII and more extreme Protestantism under Edward VI. More worryingly for Elizabeth, they had gained strength under Mary I, both socially and politically, that she would have to compete with or undo. In many ways, Elizabeth’s settlement took the via media between the conservative and reformist religious camps, yet the majority of the country was still Catholic.
On the contrary, the marriage would safeguard England as any heir Mary and Philip may have produced would have inherited the Netherlands and England. This could potentially become a secure and substantial empire; therefore at this point in time, Spain was an ally to England. However, Spain was soon to become much less of an ally to England, demonstrated by Philip’s actions soon after their marriage. He only visited England in 1556, when he wanted England to join Spain in war with France in 1557. Spain had already defeated France when England captured St Quentin and the war soon led to England losing its last foothold in Europe - Calais.
He passed laws such as making churches and bishops more plain, services be said in English and creating the Book of Common Prayer in 1549 and a refined version in 1552. Upon his death in 1553 England's religion changed again under the rule of Mary I. Mary was Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon's daughter which meant that she was raised a Catholic. Almost immediately after becoming Queen in 1553, Mary began changing England back to Catholicism, mainly through oppression and persecution of Protestants, such as the two-hundred and eighty executions of Protestants in the five years of her reign. When Elizabeth came to power in 1558 (crowned in 1559) amidst great tensions, she had to make a decision, find a via media church, or make England fully Protestant or fully Catholic, either of which
Why was Mary Queen Of Scots executed? Mary, Queen of Scots was executed for many different reasons and in this essay I am going to explain some of the reasons as to why she was executed in 1587. Mary Queen of Scots was a Catholic, and her close relations to the very powerful French court strengthened their powers against England. Elizabeth's first policy towards Scotland was to oppose the French presence there. She feared that the French planned to invade England and put Mary, Queen of Scots, who was in effect the heir to the English crown, on the throne.
In England, Charles’s imposition of such means the “placing of altars”, mentioned in Source B, and the prominence of catholics at court also mentioned in B, created underlying discontent. Furthermore, Charles imposition of the beauty of Holiness and the abolishment of the fed fees impropriations in 1633 made puritans extremely fearful of the apparent catholic tendencies of charles. These changes did not create truly vocalised opposition for several years. The case of John Williams and his challenge to the altar policy and the early use of Prynne are evidence, I believe of how vocalised opposition to the religious reforms was of vital importance to the collapse of the Personal rule. The general build in opposition, e.g.
The Corruption of the Church Religion was a way of life during the Middle Ages, and because of this reality, no one escaped the authority of the Catholic Church. If condemned to ignorance about the Middle Ages, one would assume, as a result, that the Church was a safeguard for its believers. Yet, in actuality it was the root of all evil. People during this period found many things in which to deviate, and, therefore, the Church became the center stage for corruption. The Zeitgeist of the Middle Ages can be easily seen through this corruption of the Catholic Church, a topic brought to focus in Geoffrey Chaucer’s novel The Canterbury Tales.
She did not choose the first or the second option, which fall under this commandment, because she knew the Catholic Church forbids all direct abortion even when the woman's life is in danger, and she knew it was a sin against God. Gianna had to suffer a lot, and make many sacrifices. She taught me that sometimes bad things happen and we need to make decisions. Either good decisions, which brings us closer to God, or bad decisions, which further us away. It is up to us to pick good over evil, for God has given us free will.
Other leaders likewise had a prominent role in heightening the threat for example, the Duke of Suffolk as mentioned again in Source 3, who was determined to depose Mary in order to make way for his daughter Jane Grey, however, he was ineffective in rallying support in Leicester and thus his threat to Mary was very much limited. Sir James Croft (also referred to in Source 3) was in control of raising rebels in Herefordshire. He played a significant role in introducing the Protestant liturgy in Ireland and thus, as Mary was a Catholic Queen, Croft was able to rally support through Protestant
Another reason Elizabeth’s gender wasn’t too much of a problem was that she asserted her royal authority; it was her divine right to become the queen as god had chosen her. Another problem Elizabeth had to face in 1558 was deciding what religion to become, whether she would keep England as a catholic settlement or to change England to a protestant settlement. If she decided to keep England a catholic settlement it would keep her strong alliances on side; Spain and France, this would be good as Elizabeth was worried that Spain and France would go to war against her if not. Also if Elizabeth decided to stay Catholic, the pope and the House of Lords would be on her side. This means she would be able to pass laws easier.
Additionally, she was tried in a time when the church and state were confronting the imminent danger of the Antinomian movement. To further kindle the situation she was a tremendous threat to the most intimate relationships between the highest members of church and government, who were also the ones by whom she was being tried. Anne Hutchinson was an extraordinary threat to the Massachusetts Bay colony because she endangered the very social and cultural fiber of the society in which she lived. Being a woman in puritan society meant being submissive. It meant playing a role in which one did not lead as a woman but follow.