The 'Settlement' of Religion Flashcards
Explain the Causes of the Reformation
-The Reformation began in Europe because a growing number of people believed that the Catholic Church had become greedy, corrupt and no longer represented a true Christian life.
-This led some people to abandon the Catholic Church and and establish their own Church without the Pope.
-The English Reformation began in 1532, when Henry VIII created the Church of England. However, Henry was never a true Protestant, the changes came out of his desire to divorce his wife.
-By Elizabeth’s accession in 1558, the Reformation was splitting Europe apart.
Describe Key Features of the Catholic Church
-The Catholic Church was structured with the Pope as its head. Under him were the Bishops, Cardinals and Priest.
-The Catholic Church believed that the Church should act as intermediary between God and the people. For example, the Church could forgive sins.
-The Bible and church services were in Latin.
-Churches were highly decorated in honour of the glory of God. Priests also wore special vestments.
-During mass, they believed a miracle occurs when the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.
Describe Key Features of the Protestant Church
-In the Protestant Church, there was no Pope.
-People were believed to have their own direct relationship with God through prayer and Bible study. Sins could only be forgiven by God.
-The Bible and church services were in the language of the country so that people were more easily able to engage with their religion.
-Churches were plain and simple so as not to distract from worshipping God. Priests could not wear special clothing.
-They also believed the bread and wine simply represented the Last Supper in the Bible and that there was no miracle.
Describe the Puritans in Elizabethan England
-Radical Protestants were often referred to as Puritans because they wanted to purify the Christian religion by getting rid of anything that wasn’t in the Bible.
-Puritan congregations wanted to manage their own churches themselves rather than bishops or the Pope choosing for them. However, under that system there was no room for the monarch.
-Furthermore, Puritan churches would be very basic, without even the altars or special clothes for priest that could be found in some Protestant churches and that Elizabeth I liked.
Describe the Religious Divisions in Elizabethan England
-Conflict arose in Europe as Catholics and Protestant both sought to establish their faith as the ‘true’ religion. Elizabeth feared this could spread to England.
-Catholics believed Elizabeth to be illegitimate and thought she had no right to be queen. There was also a Catholic alternative for the throne, Mary Queen of Scots.
-The North and West of England was highly Catholic as it took a while for Protestantism to reach there from the South and London.
-This meant religion split England geographically too and posed Elizabeth a challenge.
Explain why Elizabeth Wanted to Find a Compromise for England’s Religion
-Elizabeth wanted to establish a form of Protestantism that Catholics could accept. She ruled out a Puritan religion as she didn’t want to turn her Catholic subjects against her.
-Elizabeth herself did not believe in an extreme Protestantism. Puritans also wanted to develop their own Church, under their own leadership which would challenge her authority as queen.
-There were also some Puritans who believed that in some circumstances, subjects had the right to overthrow their monarchs.
Describe the Act of Supremacy
-The Act of Supremacy made Elizabeth supreme governor of the Church of England.
-All clergy and royal officials had to swear an oath of allegiance to her as the head of the Church.
-Under the Act of Supremacy, an Ecclesiastical High Commission was established with the job of maintaining discipline within the Church and enforcing the queen’s religious settlement.
-Members of the clergy whose loyalty was in doubt could be punished.
Describe the Act of Uniformity
-The Act of Uniformity introduced a set form of church service in the Book of Common Prayer to be used in all church services. It also made it clear that priests were to wear special clothing.
-The clergy had to use the wording of the prayer book when conducting services. Anyone who refused to use it was punished.
-The wording of the service was deliberately unclear so that Catholics and Protestants could interpret it to mean what they believed.
-The Act of Uniformity also ordered that everyone was to attend church on Sundays and other holy days or else be fined one shilling. However, for most, one shilling was a week’s pay.
Describe the Royal Injunctions
-The Royal Injunctions was a set of instructions covering a range of issues to reinforce the acts of Supremacy and Uniformity.
-All clergy were to teach the Royal Supremacy.
-No one was allowed to preach without a license from the government.
-Anyone who refused to attend church was to be reported to the Privy Council.
-Pilgrimages and monuments to ‘fake’ miracles were banned.
-Each parish was to have a copy of the Bible in English
-The clergy were to wear special vestments.
Explain how the Royal Injunctions Allowed for Compromise
-The Royal Injunctions referred to ‘fake’ miracles, leaving the possibility that there might be real ones. This could have helped to make Elizabeth I’s religious settlement more widely accepted.
-The Royal Injunctions also allowed images in churches. This would help keep their familiar look for worshippers, again helping to make Elizabeth I’s changes less unsettling.
-Puritans, however, especially disliked people praying before saints’ statues as the Bible forbade worshipping idols.
Describe Elizabeth’s Intention for the Religious Settlement
-Elizabeth wanted a Protestant Church that Catholics could accept.
-She did not want them to feel forced to choose between loyalty to their religion and their queen, so she wanted to keep a Catholic ‘feel’ to churches.
-As long as people conformed outwardly, Elizabeth did not want persecution. She hoped that the Catholic faith would simply fade away in England as the old clergy died out.
Describe the Success of the Religious Settlement on the Clergy
-All members of the Church had to take the oath of supremacy under the Act of Supremacy if they were to keep their posts.
-8,000 priests and less important clergy did so. There were around 10,000 parishes in England at the time, showing that the religious settlement was largely successful.
-When it came to the bishops however, only one agree to take the oath. The others all had to step down and Elizabeth appointed 27 new bishops.
-This gave her the opportunity to put Protestant bishops in place.
-However, she could not afford to lose the support of these new bishops, as there was a shortage of qualified Protestant clergy in England.
Describe the Success of the Religious Settlement on the People
-The majority of ordinary people accepted Elizabeth’s religious settlement and attended the Church of England services, even though many of them held on to Catholic beliefs.
-The wording of the new Prayer Book helped this because it could be understood to mean different things by Catholics and Protestants according to their beliefs.
-Parishes in places where Catholics were the majority, like Lancashire, were slow to change to the new services however.
-Nevertheless, Elizabeth made it clear that she did not want the settlement enforced too strongly, even if people were recusants.
-In most of the country, the change of religion was smooth. However, in some places, Protestants welcomed the new religious settlement with violent enthusiasm.
Describe the Role of the Church of England.
-It ran the church courts.
-It legitimised power to the monarch.
-It enforced the religious settlement.
-It gave guidance to communities. People turned to their parish church in times of hardship and uncertainty.
-It controlled what was preached. Priest needed a special licence from the government to preach. Elizabeth could ensure that the clergy preached her religious and political message.
Describe the Role of Church Courts
-Although Church courts mainly focussed on Church matters, they did act in a range of minor disputes on moral issues. For example, issues over marriage.
-They also dealt with will and inheritance. For example, all wills had to be proved valid before anyone could inherit. Lawyers greatly resented the powers that the Church courts had.
-All other offences, such as civil cases, robbery or murder etc were dealt with in the ordinary court system.
