Instability and Consolidation: 'the Mid-Tudor Crisis', 1547–1563: The Impact of Religious Developments in the Early Years of Elizabeth's Rule - Reactions to Religious Settlement

Question 1

Timeline of reactions to Elizabeth’s religious settlement

Answer 1

• 1559
- Elizabeth’s religious settlement

• 1562
- Jewel’s apology

• 1563
- Convocation

• December 1564
- Archbishop Parker meets Thomas Sampson to discuss his refusal to wear official vestments

• January 1565
- Elizabeth announces that only priests who wore correct vestments would stay in their posts or ‘keep their livings’

• May 1565
- Elizabeth sacks Sampson

• March 1566
- Archbishop Parker published the Advertisements
- Instructs priests to wear correct vestments but lets them wear surplice for Communion services as well
- 37 London priests refuse to wear correct vestments and removed from their posts

Question 2

What types of Protestants were there in Elizabethan England?

Answer 2

• Puritans (branch out into the following)
• Presbyterians
• Separatists

Question 3

What were the beliefs of the different types of Protestants in Elizabethan England?

Answer 3

• Puritans
- More extreme Protestants

• Presbyterians
- Wanted to abolish role of bishop rather than keep hierarchy of Church

• Separatists
- Puritans who wanted to break away from established Church of England

Question 4

What were the Puritan reactions to Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement?

Answer 4

• Jewel’s apology
• The Convocation of 1563
• The Vestiarian Controversy

Question 5

Jewel’s apology

Answer 5

• 1562
• Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, published An Apology of the Church of England
• Claimed that the Church of England was returning to the true position abandoned many centuries earlier by the Church of Rome
• Claimed the Puritan branch would be recognised by Jesus and the first apostles

Question 6

When was Jewel’s apology published?

Answer 6

• 1562

Question 7

The Convocation

Answer 7

• 1563
• Convocation was Church’s annual parliament
• Puritan bishops expected to make further Protestant reforms to Settlement
• Demanded further reforms for 1559 Prayer Book, removing elements of ‘popery’ and simplification of vestments
• Elizabeth refuses to meet demands

Question 8

At which Convocation did Puritan bishops call for further Protestant reforms?

Answer 8

• 1563

Question 9

The Vestiarian Controversy

Answer 9

• 1559 Settlement
- Act of Uniformity tells priests to wear surplice and albs/copes for Communion services

• 1563 Convocation
- Many bishops demand simpler vestments, Elizabeth refuses
- Many priests refuse to wear official vestments
- Most bishops sympathetic so get away with it

• December 1564
- Archbishop Parker meets Thomas Sampson to discuss his refusal to wear official vestments

• January 1565
- Elizabeth announces that only priests who wore correct vestments would stay in their posts or ‘keep their livings’

• May 1565
- Elizabeth sacks Sampson

• March 1566
- Archbishop Parker published the Advertisements
- Instructs priests to wear correct vestments but lets them wear surplice for Communion services as well
- 37 London priests refuse to wear correct vestments and removed from their posts

Question 10

Which individuals are involved in the Vestiarian Controversy?

Answer 10

• Archbishop Parker
• Thomas Sampson (Dean of Christ Church, Oxford)

Question 11

When did Archbishop Parker meet Thomas Sampson to discuss his refusal to wear the official vestments?

Answer 11

• December 1564

Question 12

When does Elizabeth announce that only priests wearing the official vestments would keep their livings?

Answer 12

• January 1565

Question 13

When does Elizabeth sack Sampson?

Answer 13

• May 1565

Question 14

When does Archbishop Parker publish the Advertisements?

Answer 14

• March 1566

Question 15

How many London priests refuse to wear the official vestments and are removed from their posts?

Answer 15

• 37

Question 16

What were the Catholic reactions to Elizabeth’s religious settlement?

Answer 16

• Some became recusants (non-attenders at church)
• Many went into exile in Europe (especially the Netherlands)
• Some exiles set up a seminary in Douai (France) to train English Catholic priests
• Some priests were sheltered by Catholic nobles
• ‘Underground’ Catholic services were held, especially in Lancashire and North-East England and secret networks of priests were established

Question 17

Why did many Catholics accept Elizabeth’s religious settlement?

Answer 17

• Elizabeth might die young and soon (like Edward and Mary)
• She may marry a Catholic
• There may be political pressure, especially from House of Lords for more Catholic changes
• Foreign Catholic powers (France, Spain, Holy Roman Empire) could invade and instigate a rebellion