Topic 2 - Catholics

Question 1

What religion was Elizabeth?

Answer 1

Elizabeth was a Protestant. She rejected Catholic beliefs such as transubstantiation. She wasn’t a religious radical like the Puritans, she still liked church decorations and music.

Question 2

What was the Act of Supremacy?

Answer 2

• Elizabeth passed the law in 1559 to establish her church.
• It re-established that the Church of England was independent - not ruled by the Pope in Rome.
• It made Elizabeth the supreme governor of this independent Church of England.

Question 3

What was the Act of Uniformity?

Answer 3

• Elizabeth passed the law in 1559 to establish her church.
• Attendance at Anglican services were made compulsory and you could be fined for not attending.
• Bible and services should be in English.
• Clergy could marry.
• Catholic practices such as pilgrimages and saints days was banned.
• Altars were replaced with communion tables.
• Candles and vestments (colourful robes) were allowed as a compromise to Catholics.

Question 4

What were Conformers?

Answer 4

• Many Catholics went along with the changes, became Protestant and dropped their Catholic beliefs.
• They were persuaded to convert after listening to sermons.
• They avoided the social and financial penalties of continuing to be a Catholic.
• Conformers were mainly in the south and east.

Question 5

What were Church Papists?

Answer 5

• Most English Catholics especially in the north-west attended Protestant church services but kept some loyalty to the Pope.
  - Going to church prevented them from paying fines but didn’t change their beliefs.
• On the inside they may have still held Catholic beliefs but did nothing to challenge the Queen.
• They hoped Catholicism would return with Mary Queen of Scots as Elizabeth successor but did not plot against her.

Question 6

What were Plotters?

Answer 6

• Catholics who plotted against Elizabeth.
• There were probably less than 200 people.
• They were fiercely loyal to the Pope.
• They believe the opposition to Elizabeth was justified as it was God’s will to remove her.

Question 7

What were Recusants?

Answer 7

• Several thousand wealthy English Catholics based especially in the north and west.
• They refused to attend church services and continued to hear or attend Mass.
• They could afford to pay the fines and hoped Catholicism would return when Mary Queen of Scots replaced Elizabeth.

Question 8

Why was Mary Queen of Scots a problem?

Answer 8

Mary Queen of Scots have been in England since 1568. Her presence was a real problem for Elizabeth. She became the focus of Catholic hopes to return the country to the ‘true’ faith.

Question 9

How did the Catholic Church rebel against Elizabeth?

Answer 9

• Throughout the 1570 is the Catholic Church we’re getting organised effort to rebuild the Catholic faith in England.
• Elizabeth was excommunicated by the Pope in 1570, as a heretic. This meant her subjects didn’t have to remain loyal to her.
• Catholic missionaries and priests were trained in Europe to keep the faith alive.

Question 10

How did the Catholics acts of rebellion affect the people?

Answer 10

From 1580, these measures began to have an effect and more Catholics started to disobey the rules and refused to attend church. A few went further and became plotters. There were never that many but Elizabeth’s government felt very threatened by them.

Question 11

What was the Act of Persuasions?

Answer 11

The 1581 act of persuasions raised recusancy fines by 10,000%, this meant only the wealthiest could afford to pay.

Question 12

What was the Act against Priests?

Answer 12

The 1585 act against priests meant that those who offered shelter or aid to Priests could face the death penalty. Priests were seen as the heart of Catholic resistance.

Question 13

Who was Margaret Clitherow?

Answer 13

Margaret Clitherow became the first female Catholic martyr. She died under torture when she was accused of sheltering priests in York in 1586.

Question 14

What was the Recusancy Act?

Answer 14

1587 Recusancy Act meant that 2/3 of the land owned by a recusant could be taken and even the wealthiest Catholics (like Thomas Tresham spent time in prison, was on a disloyal subjects accused of sheltering priests in 1581) were now forced into debt.

Question 15

What happened in 1588?

Answer 15

Amid fears of an English Catholic uprising to support the Spanish armada led to 11 Catholics being executed.

Question 16

What was the Act Restraining Recusants?

Answer 16

The 1593 act retraining recusants meant that Catholics had to stay within 5 miles of their homes and not hold large gatherings. This meant that authorities could keep a close watch on potentially disloyal subjects and Catholics became isolated from one another.

Question 17

What happened to Priests in England?

Answer 17

When Elizabeth became Queen most Catholic priests left England and became exiles working in Catholic countries in Europe. Elizabeth was relieved that there were no longer priests in England to encourage others to break the laws when the pope excommunicated her in 1570. By the 1580s this situation changes as two types of priests were sent to England, seminary priests and Jesuits.

Question 18

What were Seminary priests?

Answer 18

• Trained by William Alan ( an English priest in exile)at seminaries (priest schools) in northern France and in Italy.
• Their main role is to encourage faithful Catholics by saying Mass and hearing confession.
• They were told not to try to convert anyone.

Question 19

What were Jesuits?

Answer 19

• They were specially trained to win people back to Catholicism.
• They were dedicated to serving the Pope.
• Robert persons and Edmund Campion were the first to arrive.
• They came in disguise and used ‘safe houses’ to avoid arrest.

Question 20

What was it like being a seminary or Jesuit priest?

Answer 20

• By 1580 over 100 priests had arrived from Europe.
• The mission was dangerous and two seminary priests were executed as traitors in 1577.
• Wealthy Catholics made secret hiding places in their houses called priest holes.
• The most famous designer of priest holes was Nicolas Owen. It is claimed that he saved hundreds of praise from arrest.
• These priests succeeded in influencing many wealthy people to stay Catholic.
• Walsingham built up a network of spies and informers to learn about the plans, plots and the movement of Catholic priests.
• Local JPs were ordered to search for priests in the houses of the gentry.

Question 21

What happened after Edmund Campions execution?

Answer 21

• Edmund Campion was the first jesuit priest to arrive in 1580 and was found hiding in a priest hole.
• Campion insisted he had never encouraged rebellion against Elizabeth. He claimed he was a loyal Englishman but that Elizabeth was just wrong about religion.
• He was tortured on the rack then hung, drawn and quartered as a traitor.
• As a result Catholic opposition to Elizabeth increased and more priests came to England.
• Catholics published propaganda showing images of torture to expose the cruelty of Elizabeth regime and Elizabeth’s government countered this with pamphlets to justify torture.
• After 1585 priests on trial were asked the ‘bloody question’ about who they would be loyal to in the event of an invasion of England.
• The execution of priests peaked in 1588 when England was under threat from Spanish invasion.

Question 22

Why did the Catholic threat fade?

Answer 22

Wrong place: They concentrated on the south-east but recusancy was strongest in the north and west.
Wrong people: They concentrated on the gentry yet the majority of people in England were from the lower orders. They had no one to encourage them to stay Catholic.
Too few: Walsingham’s spy network was more extensive than the Catholic network.
Too divided: Seminary and Jesuit priests argued over tactics. The Pope appointed an archpriest and the two groups argued about him too.

Question 23

Why was Mary an ongoing threat?

Answer 23

• When Protestants deposed Mary from the Scottish throne she came to England in 1568 hoping for Elizabeth’s help.
• Elizabeth kept Mary comfortable in captivity but regular moved her so no one could easily plan her escape.
• As feared Mary soon became a focus of Catholic plots, she was a real threat to national security.
• In 1570 the pope excommunicated Elizabeth and announced her as a heretic so attacking England could now be justified.
• In 1580 the Pope sent specially trained priests to help spread the Catholic faith.

Question 24

What was the Throckmorton Plot of 1583?

Answer 24

• In 1583 the Pope, Philip II of Spain and a French Catholic Army devised a plan with Francis Throckmorton to place Mary on the throne.
• Walsingham’s spies uncovered the plot, Throckmorton was arrested but Mary was spared because they couldn’t prove her involvement.
• A bond of association followed whereby anyone who plotted or who would gain from a plot to kill Elizabeth could be executed.

Question 25

What was the Babington plot in 1586?

Answer 25

• In 1586 Anthony Barrington communicated with Mary using coded messages about a plot to kill Elizabeth.
• They were both unaware that their correspondence was being intercepted by one of Walsingham spies. This provided evidence of Mary’s guilt.
• Mary was put on trial, found guilty of treason and executed at Fotheringay castle on 8th of February 1587.
• Elizabeth had signed Mary’s death warrant but asked for it not to be sealed. She was furious that the execution had gone ahead anyway.

Question 26

What happened in 1559 which built up Anglo-Spanish hostility?

Answer 26

Elizabeth rejected an offer of marriage from King Philip II of Spain. Phillip was a Catholic who viewed the Queen as a heretic and wanted to restore Catholicism in England.

Question 27

What happened in the 1570s which built up Anglo-Spanish hostility?

Answer 27

Elizabeth supported privateers who attacked Spanish treasure ships in the ‘New World’.

Question 28

What happened in 1583 which built up Anglo-Spanish hostility?

Answer 28

Philip supported the Throckmorton plot to depose Elizabeth.

Question 29

What happened in 1584 which built up Anglo-Spanish hostility?

Answer 29

The Dutch rebel leader, William of Orange, was assassinated by a Catholic subject of Phillip II. Elizabeth feared this could happen to her.

Question 30

What happened in 1585 which built up Anglo-Spanish hostility?

Answer 30

Elizabeth sent an army to help Dutch rebels fight against Spanish rule.

Question 31

What happened in 1587 which built up Anglo-Spanish hostility?

Answer 31

Philip prepared a fleet of ships - the armada - to invade England. When Mary Queen of Scots was executed Philip was even more determined to succeed in his crusade against England.

Question 32

Why did the Armada fail?

Answer 32

Planning: The Armada was supposed to pick up troops in the Netherlands and take them to invade England. But communication between Armada and troops was impossible so this never happened.
Luck: Strong winds drove the Armada northwards so the English could attack.
Tactics: English vessels changed direction more easily. Fire ships drove the Spanish ships into open sea and at the Battle of Gravelines English guns were reloaded more quickly.