The Elizabethan Religious Settlement 1559 Flashcards
What did it do?
Enacted in Elizabeth’s first parliament
Not only established royal supremacy but set out the way the church was to be organised and the content and conduct of services
2 key aspects of religious settlement
The legal status of the church
The liturgical books to be used in church services
What did the settlement introduce ?
- act of supremacy 1559
- royal injunctions 1559
- new book of common prayer 1563
- thirty-nine articles 1563
Act of supremacy 1559 (5)
- repealed papal supremacy
- reinstated religious legislation of HVIII reign
- demanded oath of supremacy for clergy men and church officials
- made queen supreme governor rather than supreme head of COFE
- reinstated powers of royal visitation of the church
Royal injunctions 1559 (4)
- purchase of english bible by every parish church
- suppression of catholic practices
- celebration of the Eucharist at a simple communion table
- removal of ‘things superstitious’ from church
New book of common prayer 1563 (2)
Act of uniformity 1559
- established book of CP
- everyone should go to church
Makes it more acceptable to traditionally minded worshippers e.g. carefully worded to allow variations in Eucharist beliefs
Thirty-nine articles 1563 (2)
- broadly supported reformed doctrine e.g. denied teachings concerning transubstantiation and affirmed that scripture was the final authority on salvation
- sought to define doctrine of the COFE
Significance of the settlement
Settlement was a compromise
Eliz was placed under pressure from two extremes :
- ‘puritan choir’ of radical clergymen and MPs, who may have forced her to accept a more Protestant prayer book than she had really wanted
- catholic bishops and conservative peers in House of Lords, who strongly opposed the uniformity bill, believing settlement was too Protestant
