Elizabeth I - The Puritan Threat Flashcards
1566
The Vestments Controversy
1570
Proposals by Thomas Cartwright
1579
French marriage pamphlet of John Stubbs
1583
Three Articles
1588-89
The Marprelate Tracts
1593
The Act Against Seditious Sectaries
Puritans
An extreme Protestant who wanted very plain churches and
simple services
Calvinists
Supporters of the French Catholic, John Calvin. He believed in abolishing bishops
Moderate Puritans
A Puritan who reluctantly accepted Elizabeth’s
Religious Settlement
Presbyterians
Wanted even simpler services, established in Scotland
Separatists
The most radical Puritan who wanted to break away from the national church and run churches parish by parish
Prophesyings
Meetings of ministers and other interested people in
which ministers practised their preaching skills
Thomas Cartwright
A Professor at Cambridge University, he gave a series of lectures calling for a Presbyterian church system. His system would have weakened the power of Elizabeth as Supreme Governor, which is why
she bitterly rejected his ideas and he was forced to flee to Geneva
John Stubbs
A Puritan, Stubbs wrote a pamphlet criticising Elizabeth’s marriage
talks with the Duke of Anjou, a Catholic. Elizabeth was so unhappy that she had him arrested and charged with ‘seditious writing’. He was sentenced to have his right hand cut off and later imprisoned
Puritan MPs
Some MPs attempted to use Parliament to further their Puritan idea. Elizabeth closed down Parliament before the ideas of Walter
Strickland could be discussed. Peter Wentworth demanded MPs be allowed to discuss religion in Parliament and was imprisoned as a
result
Matthew Parker
Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 to 1575, he issued a book
laying down the rules for wearing vestments. Many Puritans refused
to follow these rules as they argued the clothing was too similar to
Catholic dress. Elizabeth insisted the rules were followed and anyone
who refused lost their positions in the church
Edmund Grindal
As Archbishop of Canterbury, Grindal refused to follow Elizabeth’s instructions to put an end to prophesying as he believed it was
improving the standard of the clergy. He was suspended from his
post and Elizabeth shut down prophesying herself
John Whitgift
Became the Archbishop of Canterbury after Grindal. He issued the Three Articles and imposed strict controls on the clergy to end all prophesying
John Penry
A Welsh Puritan martyr who was eventually executed following
numerous arrests for publishing pamphlets criticising the state of the
church in England and Wales, as well as being involved with secret
Puritan printing presses
The Vestments Controversy
The Vestments controversy of 1566 followed Matthew Parker, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s ‘Book of Advertisements’,
which identified the specific clothing (or vestments) which should be worn by priests during services. A number of
Puritan priests believed the vestments chosen by Parker were too similar to the clothing of Catholic priests, and refused
to wear them. Some priests, such as Thomas Sampson, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, was dismissed for refusing to
wear the correct clothing. Another 37 priests in London were also dismissed from their jobs for the same reason
The Marprelate Tracts
Puritan pamphlets were produced anonymously in 1588 and 1589. They are known as the Marprelate Tracts and were
an attack on the church and its bishops. The content of the pamphlets offended a number of people as the language
used was often violent. The pamphlets did not have their desired effect as it turned many people against the Puritans, so
they actually lost them support! In response, some Protestants, such as Richard Hooker and Richard Bancroft, published
pamphlets criticising Puritanism. The authors of the Marprelate Tracts were never caught so went unpunished
The Three Articles 1583
John Whitgift was a devout Anglican and a member of Elizabeth’s Privy Council who became Archbishop of Canterbury
in 1583. He had no sympathy for Puritan beliefs at all and issued the Three Articles in 1583. They were designed to
ensure uniformity by forcing all clergy to swear an oath accepting bishops, accepting everything included in the Book
of Common Prayer and accepting the Thirty-nine Articles. Between 300 and 400 ministers refused and were dismissed
from office
The Act Against Seditious Sectaries
This act gave the authorities the power to banish or execute those who refused to go to Anglican Church services. These arrests and executions marked the end of the Separatist movement
