[End].

Queen Elizabeth I, 1559-1601

One thing was certain: the new queen was solidly Protestant. She had been so raised and she so remained throughout her lifetime. By temperment she was moderate, and she steered a course between more radical factions on every hand. Because she was also politically adept, she was able to steer her course without major mishap.

The "Elizabethan Settlement" as it is known, came at the very beginning of her realm, as part of the general reaction against the excesses of Mary. The Act of Uniformity passed in 1559 essentially returned England to the reformation of Henry VII's later years. The Anglican Church was headed by the monarch, its priests were called ministers, and they celebrated the Lord's Supper, not Mass. The official Prayer Book set down the rituals to be used. And all the lands seized from the old Catholic Church were to remain in lay hands.

On the surface, religion faded away for a time as a divisive issue in England, but under the surface tensions remained. For one thing, there were still a great many Catholics in England who stubbornly resisted the domination of the Anglican Church. This was especially true in the rural areas. At the other end, there was a politically powerful group of ardent reformers who felt that the job was still only half done. Elizabeth did not so much deal with these factions as she neutralized them politically, without appeasing or satisfying them.

The result was that the issue of reform in England was postponed rather than resolved. And when the social peace of the nation was disturbed again in the 1630s, religion again came to the forefront, this time in the form of civil war.

[End].

History of Western Civilization

Dr. E. L. Skip Knox
Boise State University
Last revised: 18 October 1998