Elizabethan England: Puritan Challenge To The Religious Settlement Flashcards
Who was unhappy at Elizabeth’s religious settlement?
extreme Catholics and puritans
when did dissatisfaction of the religious settlement start to grow?
by the late 1560s
Puritans were happy that Elizabeth reintroduced Protestantism in England.
However, what did they want her to add?
they wanted Elizabeth to add more protestant developments to the church
During the 1560s, where did the main puritan challenge come from?
within the church of England itself; especially the bishops
How did the Puritans rebel against the religious settlement?
they started ignoring or disobeying parts of the religious settlement - this was a direct challenge to her authority
What did the puritans want?
(their beliefs, how worship should be, how the world should be)
• world
• form of worship
• communion service
• antichrist
• their own church
• book of common prayer
• they wanted to make the world a more godly place by banning sinful activities such as gambling and cockfighting
• they wanted a simpler form of worship, whitewashed churches and no worship of religious idols, including crucifixes and statues
• they believed that in the communion service, the presence of Jesus was spiritual, not physical
• wanted to develop their own church, which would not be controlled by the queen. There would be no bishops and priests would not wear vestments
• Many Puritans were anti-catholic and believed the pope was the “anti-christ”
The Puritans did not like the new prayer book, which was deliberately vague around controversial aspects such as transubstantiation, with which the Puritans disagreed.
why did puritans not want statues or crucifixes?
they were seen as ungodly and too catholic
what were the 2 main things that puritans had an issue with?
vestments and crucifixes
Explain the crucifix controversy
• Elizabeth kept crucifixes as it gave the church a similar look and feel and she didn’t want to anger the catholic subjects by changing the church drastically
• Puritans opposed this and some puritan bishops threatened to resign so Elizabeth backed down. However, she did insist on keeping a crucifix in the Royal Chapel.
why did Elizabeth back down when Puritan bishops threaten to resign?
because she could not replace them with educted Protestant clergy of similar ability
Explain the vestments controversy
• Puritans thought that vestments should be very plain and simple as elaborate vestments suggested that priests were set apart from ordinary people
• Elizabeth wanted the clergy to wear special vestments, as described in the royal injunctions
why did catholics think that priests were special?
because they had the power to turn the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.
They could forgive sins
By 1565, it was clear that not all clergy were wearing what the queen had commanded. what happened as a result?
• In 1566, the archbishop of canterbury, Thomas parker, required priests in his book of Advertisements to attend an exhibition showing the vestments they must wear
• 37 puritan priests lost their posts becuase they refused to attend church and to wear the new vestments required
what was the extent of the puritan challenge?
• While Puritans were active London, cambridge, oxford and parts of East anglia, Puritanism had less of an impact on northern england, where people remained mostly catholic in outlook
• The government ignored most Purtian demands for reform of the Church of England, including the Admonition to Parliament in 1572, suggesting that Puritanism’s support was limited
Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury (1575-82) also challenged Elizabeth’s settlement.
The Puritans were a vocal group within English society. Puritans such as John Foxe, Thomas Cartwright, and John Field were openly anti-Catholic and opposed to bishops.
Despite their differences, all Puritans agreed that it was better to have Elizabeth on the throne than the next in line, Mary Queen of Scots. Therefore they did not lead rebellions or violent protests or try to help a foreign power invade England.
