Elizabeth I: character and aims

Question 1

What does ‘via media’ mean and why can this be used to describe Elizabeth’s religious settlement?

Answer 1

Via media means middle way, which is what the religious settlement was between Protestantism and Catholicism

Question 2

What did the 1559 Act of Supremacy do?

Answer 2

• Restored royal supremacy
• Restored Henry VIII’s reformation legislation
• Heresy law enacted in Mary’s reign was removed
• Power of royal visitation enacted by Henry VIII restored, allows the crown to appoint commissioners to visit and correct errors in a Church
• Described Elizabeth as the Supreme Governor of the Church and not the Supreme Head
• Oath of Supremacy would be taken by clergymen and church officials

Question 3

What did the 1559 Act of Uniformity do?

Answer 3

• Specified the use of a single Book of Common Prayer
• Ornaments and dress of the clergy would be like it was before the 1549 Act of Uniformity, so more Catholic

Question 4

What 2 modifications did the 1559 Book of Common Prayer have from the 1552 Book of Common Prayer?

Answer 4

• Variations in Eucharistic belief were possible
• The ‘Black Rubric’ in the 1552 Book of Common Prayer which tried to explain against kneeling for the Eucharist was removed

Question 5

What did the Royal Injunctions in 1559 do?

Answer 5

• Emphasised ‘the suppression of the superstitious’ so anything Catholic
• Eucharist to be delivered at a communion table rather than the altar
• Catholic practices like pilgrimage and the use of candles described as ‘works devised by mans fantasies’
• Parish churches required to purchase an English bible