Elizabethan Settlement

Following Mary's childless death, her half-sister Elizabeth inherited the throne. One of the most important concerns during Elizabeth's early reign was religion. Elizabeth could not be Catholic, as that church considered her illegitimate. At the same time, she had observed the turmoil brought about by Edward's introduction of radical Protestant reforms.

Communion with the Catholic Church was again severed by Elizabeth. She relied primarily on her chief advisors, Sir William Cecil, as her Secretary of State, and Sir Nicholas Bacon, as the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, for direction on the matter. Chiefly she supported her Father's idea of reforming the church but made some minor adjustments. In this way, Elizabeth and her advisors aimed at a church that included most opinions. Two groups were excluded. Catholics who remained loyal to the Pope were not to be tolerated. They were, in fact, regarded as traitors, because the Pope had refused to accept Elizabeth as Queen of England. Roman Catholics were given the hard choice of being loyal either to their church or their Country. For some priests it meant life on the run, in some cases death for treason. The other group not to be tolerated was made up of people who wanted reform to go much further, and who finally gave up on the Church of England. They could not see it as a true church any longer. They believed it had refused to obey the Bible, so they formed small groups of convinced believers outside the church. The response of the government was to use imprisonment and exile to try to crush these 'Separatists'.

Within the Church of England itself, three groups existed. Those who believed the form of the church was just what it should be included leaders like John Jewel and Richard Hooker. Others looked for opportunities to reintroduce some Catholic practices. Under the Stuart kings they were to have their chance. Others, who came to be called "Puritans", wanted to remove the traces of the old ways that still remained. The Stuart kings were to give them a rough passage. At the end of Elizabeth's reign, the Church of England was firmly in place, but within it were the seeds of future conflict.

Parliament was summoned in 1559 to consider the Reformation Bill and to create a new church. The Reformation Bill defined the Communion as a consubstantial celebration as opposed to a transubstantial celebration, included abuse of the pope in the litany, and ordered that ministers should not wear the surplice or other Catholic vestments. It allowed ministers to marry, banned images from churches, and confirmed Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Bill met heavy resistance in the House of Lords, as Roman Catholic bishops as well as the lay peers voted against it. They reworked much of the Bill, changed the litany to allow for a transubstantial belief in the Communion and refused to grant Elizabeth the title of Supreme Head of the Church. Parliament was prorogued over Easter, and when it resumed, the government entered two new bills into the Houses – the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity.

Дата добавления: 2015-01-03