Why did Elizabeth I pursue a compromised religious settlement?
Why did Elizabeth I pursue a compromised religious settlement?
The Elizabethan Settlement was intended to put an end to the religious controversy that had developed in the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII, and had swung from one extreme under Edward VI to the other under Bloody Mary. So, in 1559, Elizabeth created a religious settlement which would finally unite her people. Elizabeth didn't want England to be seen by other countries as a place with lots of religious conflict and trouble, and so worked hard to get the whole country to take on board this settlement. In deciding this Elizabeth was influenced by a number of causal factors...
The choice of religion would have consequences both at home and abroad. For instance, choosing to remain Catholic would be surrendering power to Rome and would ally England with other Catholic states, such as France and Spain, but possibly alienate the Protestant Dutch, who were England's main trading partner. Returning to Protestantism would annoy Catholic Spain, the most powerful nation in the world at the time, and who Elizabeth needed to keep her fragile friendship with. It might also strike fear into the hearts of English Catholics, fearing retribution and persecution from Protestant reformers, particularly the most radical.
But Elizabeth also had to think politically, with her parliament being divided religiously she couldn't upset either, which greatly effected any laws she would want passing. With the House of Lords mainly protestant, and the House of Commons mainly catholic she couldn't ignore either. She needed to establish a national church which would seek to secure the religious conformity and attendance of as many of her subjects as possible. No stable government could exist where subjects accepted the political rule of monarch but rejected her religion in large numbers, it is impossible to separate religion and politics.
Not only did Elizabeth have these factors to think about, but she also had great
The Elizabethan Settlement was intended to put an end to the religious controversy that had developed in the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII, and had swung from one extreme under Edward VI to the other under Bloody Mary. So, in 1559, Elizabeth created a religious settlement which would finally unite her people. Elizabeth didn't want England to be seen by other countries as a place with lots of religious conflict and trouble, and so worked hard to get the whole country to take on board this settlement. In deciding this Elizabeth was influenced by a number of causal factors...
The choice of religion would have consequences both at home and abroad. For instance, choosing to remain Catholic would be surrendering power to Rome and would ally England with other Catholic states, such as France and Spain, but possibly alienate the Protestant Dutch, who were England's main trading partner. Returning to Protestantism would annoy Catholic Spain, the most powerful nation in the world at the time, and who Elizabeth needed to keep her fragile friendship with. It might also strike fear into the hearts of English Catholics, fearing retribution and persecution from Protestant reformers, particularly the most radical.
But Elizabeth also had to think politically, with her parliament being divided religiously she couldn't upset either, which greatly effected any laws she would want passing. With the House of Lords mainly protestant, and the House of Commons mainly catholic she couldn't ignore either. She needed to establish a national church which would seek to secure the religious conformity and attendance of as many of her subjects as possible. No stable government could exist where subjects accepted the political rule of monarch but rejected her religion in large numbers, it is impossible to separate religion and politics.
Not only did Elizabeth have these factors to think about, but she also had great