Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabethan Religion

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When Elizabeth came to rule she caused the final change in the nation’s national religion.  Before Catholicism was the main religion and Protestants were persecuted. (This was during the reign of Mary)  Before Mary Henry VIII had terrorized the Catholics, so the religion was in a constant state of change.

Elizabeth’s hope of bringing back Protestantism was not left unchallenged.  Catholic bishops and peers fought against the queen.  She attempted it multiple times before she succeeded in re-administering Protestantism.

Eventually Elizabeth changed the Religious beliefs.  Catholic services were forbidden, priests were allowed to marry, and relics and decorations were taken from the church.  She changes the Protestant religion as well by trying to accommodate Catholic sensibilities in matters she judged less important.

During this time challenges came from Catholics, who clung to the old faith and plotted to remove the queen, and from Puritans, radical Protestants who wanted to abolish all traces of Catholicism.  In 1569 a group of powerful Catholic nobles rose in rebellion but were savagely repressed.  In 1571 an international plot was uncovered to assassinate her in favor of her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots.  Even though Mary was beheaded in 1587 after years of being at the middle of Catholic plots against Elizabeth, such plots did not end until England declared victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588.