Was there an 'Elizabethan Settlement' of Religion?
Was there an 'Elizabethan Settlement' of religion? The issue of religion had been a long standing problem throughout Tudor England. For more than 60 years the two opposing beliefs struggled to dominate the realm depending on what the monarch believed in. Henry VIII initially altered Catholic doctrine in proclaiming himself as Supreme Head of the Church in 1534. Further confusion of state religion continued during Edward's reign. Protestantism was propagated from 1547, at the time of Edward's accession, and was further strengthened by the introduction of the First Book of Common Prayer in 1549 and the Second Book in 1552. These Prayer Books included and reinforced newly written prayers and services, changes to the Mass and discussed particular issues of belief, such as transubstantiation of Holy Communion. These initial actions of English Reformation were suppressed with the accession of Mary. She was a staunch Catholic who enforced her religion upon England and punished those who opposed the 'true' faith. People were condemned as heretics; over 300 Protestants were burned from February 1555 to November 1558. By this time people were confused about what religion to believe in and exactly what heresy meant. The reign of E
As Queen, she was regarded as pious in the public eye, attending morning service every day in her chapel, translating various prayer books and always carrying her book of private prayers in English, French, Italian, Latin and Greek. " Though this act passed the House of Commons easily it was opposed by all bishops in the House of Lords. transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ. The Queen knew that religious settlement would have to be integrated in daily life and took necessary action in realising this concept. Overall, the Elizabethan Settlement of religion was wisely implemented and successful during Elizabeth's reign and continued to grow to what we now perceive as the current Church of England. All her life she had experienced the various dangers faced by previous monarchs and was wary of not repeating the same errors. Later in her reign she openly disagreed with Catholic doctrine and called out in protest of religious teachings: "Our realm and subjects have been long wonderers, walking astray, whilst they were under the tuition of Romish pastors, who advised them to own a wolf for their head (in lieu of a careful shepherd) whose inventions, heresies and schisms be so numerous, that the flock of Christ have fled on poisonous shrubs for want of wholesome pastures. She cared about right religion but at the same time was a political and social realist always following the middle path, via media, in hope of settling Catholic and Protestant disputes. Many waited for Elizabeth to settle religion. " Yet the question at hand was: 'To what variety of Protestantism would England return?' Elizabeth knew that the settlement of religion would take a lot longer than people planned. Therefore she left much of the decision making to the local bishoprics. They were sure that by such actions as walking out of Christmas Mass in 1558 at the elevation of the host and the absence from Mass and the monks' procession during parliament in 1559 Elizabeth would suppress all Catholic services.
Common topics in this essay:
Church England,
English Church,
Christmas Mass,
Supremacy Uniformity,
Catholic Protestant,
English Reformation,
Latin Greek,
Head Church,
Henrician Edwardian,
Prayer Book,
religious settlement,
church england,
prayer book,
elizabeth's reign,
edwardian prayer book,
reign elizabeth,
edwardian prayer,
supremacy uniformity,
acts supremacy,
house lords,
parliament 1559,
acts supremacy uniformity,
thirty nine articles,
clerical wearing surplice,
house lords bill,
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Acceptance Essays
