Religious Matters Flashcards
What were 2 religious aims of Elizabeth?
1) To heal divisions between Catholics and Protestants before they led to unrest and civil war, like in Germany and France
2) To maximise her personal power and wealth by taking as much control over the church as she could.
When was the Act of Supremacy passed?
May 1559
What did the Act of Supremacy do?
-It dealt with Elizabeth’s political aims regarding the church.
-It re-established the break from Rome as well as an independent Church of England
What title did Elizabeth choose instead of Supreme Head, and why?
-Supreme Governor
-She hoped this would pacify the Catholics who did regarded the Pope as the ‘Head’ of Church.
What did Elizabeth require all members of the clergy to do in the Act of Supremacy?
Swear an oath of loyalty to her.
The act also stated that the church would keep its existing what?
What did this do?
Pre-reformation episcopal structure.
This was a concession to the Catholics, as all the European Protestant churches had got rid of this sort of hierarchy.
When was the Act of Uniformity passed?
May 1559, a second law after the Act of Supremacy.
What did the Act of Uniformity aim to do?
End quarrels between Protestants and Catholics by making clear what the Anglican Church believed in.
What was the Church created like in the Act of Uniformity?
Protestant.
What happened to Catholic mass in the Act of Uniformity?
It was abandoned.
What other old Catholic practises were banned in the Act of Uniformity?
Pilgrimages and Saint’s images. Bible and church services were now in English and priests can marry.
However, what did the Act of Uniformity do for Catholics?
-Although it declared the alter should be replaced with a communion table, to please the Catholics it also said that ornaments such as crosses and candles could be placed on the table.
-Priests also had to wear Catholic-style vestments rather than the plain black ones worn by protestants.
What happened to those Catholics unwilling to accept Elizabeth as Head of Church who held public office (as MPs, judges etc)?
Had their position taken away.
What was made compulsory?
Attendance at the Anglican church.
Who were recusants?
Someone, usually a Roman Catholic, who refused to go to church services.
What happened to recusants who followed the popes orders?
They were fined a shilling a week.
What was punishment of Mass like?
You would be fined for attending one, and could face death penalty if found guilty of performing the ceremony itself.
When was Elizabeth ex-communicated and by who? What was this called?
27 April 1570, by Pope Pius V
The papal bull.
What were missionaries?
People who would try to keep Catholicism alive.
Give an example of when English Catholics were trained as missionaries:
In 1568, a school for training seminary priests was founded by William Allen in the Netherlands, the aim was so train English Catholics as missionaries to go back to England and keep Catholicism alive.
What happened a year after the school for training seminary priests was set up?
Some leading Catholic nobles, including the Dukes of Northumberland and Norfolk, led a rebellion in the North, aiming to depose Elizabeth.
What happened a year after the Northern Rebellion?
Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth
Why was Elizabeth being excommunicated very important?
It said that Catholics no longer had to be loyal to the Queen and directly ordered them to disobey her laws or be ex-communicated themselves.
What was introduced as a response to the increasing Catholic threat to Elizabeth after she was excommunicated?
The Treason Act, 1571.
What was the Treason Act of 1571?
It stated that denying Elizabeth’s supremacy and bringing the Pope’s Bull of excommunication into England could both be punished by death.
What else was stated in the Treason Act and why?
Anyone who left the country for more than 6 months had their land confiscated. This was an attempt to prevent English Catholics from going abroad to train as missionaries.
What was the Counter-Reformation?
An attempt by the Catholic Church to bring many Protestants back to the old faith. In 1568, William Allen established a seminary at Douai in the Netherlands to train Catholic priests. Allen aimed to send these priests back to England as missionaries. He had the full support of the pope. The Jesuits were the one key movement within the Counter-Reformation.
Who were the Jesuits?
A religious group dedicated to serving the Pope.
What event in France paired with what led to a greater hatred and fear of Catholicism in England?
In 1572, the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in France occurred. Thousands of French Protestants were killed in mob violence, believed to have been bought about the Catholic government. Bloodshed in France and worsening relations with Spain led to this.
What was the Jesuit’s idea?
To gain influence over rich and powerful families and to turn them against the Queen and the Anglican church.
What did Jesuits also do once in England?
They helped to smuggle other priests into the country.
Who was one of the first and most famous English Jesuit priests?
Edmund Campion
What did Edmund Campion do once he arrived in England in 1580?
He eventually moved to London, holding church services in the homes of important Catholic families.
What 2 things did Campion do to avoid arrest?
Wore disguises and using ‘safe houses’.
Name 2 people who were involved in renting houses across the country for the priests to use:
The wealthy Anne Vaux and her sister Eleanor Brooksby.
What did some houses contain for the Jesuits?
So-called ‘priest holes’.
What were priest holes?
Cleverly concealed rooms and spaces where priests could hide and where the illegal Mass could be celebrated.
Name someone who was particularly important in creating a network of ‘safe houses’ for priests to use:
Nicholas Owen, a Catholic carpenter.
When were new laws passed as a results of authorities increasing worries about Catholic activity?
1581
What happened as a result of 1581 laws?
The fine for recusancy was raised to £20 and any attempt to convert people to the Catholic faith was made a treasonable offence.
What other law did Parliament pass in 1585?
The Act Against Jesuits and Seminary Priests. This made becoming a priest treason, and all priests were ordered to leave England within 40 days on pain of death.
What were the officials who raided the ‘safe houses’ called?
Pursuivants.
Within how long and how was Edmund Campion caught? What happened to him?
He was caught within one year of his arrival, he was successfully located by Walsingham’s spy network and taken to the Tower of London. He was offered his freedom if he converted to Protestantism, but he refused. Even when tortured on the rack, he denied any plotting against Elizabeth, but was still executed for treason in 1581.
Give 2 examples of further force used to control Catholics in the 1590s:
-Large gatherings of Catholics were made illegal in 1593
-Catholic’s freedom of movement was restricted, they were allowed to travel no further than 5 miles from their homes
Had the government campaign against the Catholics been successful by 1603?
Yes
What % of the population were Catholic sympathisers by the end of Elizabeth’s reign?
10%
What % of the population were actual recusants by the end of Elizabeth’s reign?
2%
Who else, apart from Elizabeth and her government, was partially to blame for the collapse of English Catholicism?
Why?
The Pope - he had forbidden Catholics to attend Church services, but few people were rich enough to become recusants because of the fines imposed by the government.
Who had been chosen by the newly crowned Elizabeth to be Archbishop of Canterbury to compromise between Catholics and Protestants?
Matthew Parker, as he was as moderate Protestant.
