Elizabeth's Treatment Of Catholics example essay topic

The reformation of England had been a long drawn out affair dating back to King Henry V's Act of Supremacy in 1534. By the accession of Elizabeth in 1558, many historians believe that she inherited a country, which was still predominantly Catholic in belief. Although people of South Eastern England were likely to be influenced by the peoples of Europe, who were experiencing reforms, Doran (1994) suggests that the number of Protestants accounted for just 14 per cent of the population of Sussex and less than 10 per cent in Kent. Whether rural lifestyles were largely unaffected by changing religious doctrine due to a primitive communications network or general disinterest, as long as the laity were allowed to continue living as they had previously, is open for debate. However the attitudes of city dwellers in London, England's premier city and official residence of the monarchy were quite different. The brief rule of Queen Mary, Elizabeth's predecessor and Catholic half sister had brought about the restoration of Catholic practices and also a regime of Protestant persecution.

Public executions of branded heretics proved to have an adverse reaction as it created strong anti-Catholic sentiment and rather than to extirpate the Protestant faith, those who converted to Protestantism, if they were not exiled went underground. Described by Briscoe (2000), Elizabeth I is considered to be one of the country's most successful and popular monarchs. Unlike the reign of her sister Mary, which was by and large disastrous, Elizabeth made herself a powerful image of female authority 'through the embellishment and through concrete policies that she urged her nation to follow' (Jagger (1995) ). Her policies could be attributed to the rigorous education she received as a child, which included history, languages, moral philosophy, theology and rhetoric.

Her tutor Roger Ascham believed her mind to have no 'womanly weaknesses, and her perseverance and memory to be equal to that of a man' (Jagger (1995) ). As an adult however, although very intelligent, ruthless and calculating at times, she was also renowned for her indecisive nature. This was due to the fact that 'she sought peace above all other objects' (Johnson (1974) p 2): a trait, which many historians believe to have come from her father. Elizabeth viewed Catholicism as a threat both to what she considered true religion and her throne.

'I know no creature that breathe th whose life stand eth hourly in more peril for it than mine own; who entered not into my state without sight of manifold dangers of life and crown, as one that had the mightiest and the greatest to wrestle with. ' (Queen Elizabeth I, 1583). In comparison to Queen Mary's ruthless policy over Protestant subjects, Elizabeth adopted a cautious if not liberal policy towards Catholicism. The general consensus of many historians is that Elizabeth did not really care about what her subjects believed as long as they kept their religious views to themselves.

Doran (1994 et al) bring to light instances when Protestants, exiled under the previous reign, were invited to preach on public occasions, while Catholic preachers were simply harassed or arrested. Nevertheless Catholics received far lighter punishments for their beliefs. Following the 1559 Act of Uniformity, Catholics were expected to conform outwardly. The imposition of one-shilling fines on those who did not attend Church of England services on Sundays and various other days were set out to achieve this. Similarly there were penalties imposed on clerics who did not follow the specified rites of the Book of Common Prayer or chose to publicly attack them. Their first offence would result in imprisonment for six months and loss of a year's income.

Successive offences would carry a year's imprisonment, then life imprisonment if caught a third time. The Act of Supremacy was passed in the same year, which actively encouraged Protestantism within the sphere of government offices. According to Doran, the majority of MP's would have taken the oath as they wanted to retain their titles to the Church lands purchased under Kings Henry V and Edward, and also to regain those confiscated under Queen Mary. Those who refused to take the oath lost their positions. Furthermore, anyone who overtly upheld the Pope as head of the Church initially faced losing property.

If he proceeded he would lose all of his goods and freedom, and in due course his life. This method of coercion was to help form the habit of going to the Church of England so that future generations would readily accept the 'new' or 'true' religion as being the norm. The imposition of the penalties could not be considered as excessively harsh, as they were enforced so as not to create martyrs. 'Rather, the fines imposed for attempting to maintain a system of worship outside the Church of England were sufficiently stiff to encourage Catholic gentry to conform outwardly' (Warren (1998) p 65). This was to have the effect of setting an example for the lower classes to follow. Although Elizabeth's treatment of Catholics had been relatively lenient during the first few years of her reign, religious uniformity gathered momentum.

The Act of Supremacy was revised in 1563 when a second refusal to take the oath was to result in execution. Dean Nowell of St Paul's addressed Parliament with his view on heresy: 'By the scriptures, murderers, breakers of the holy day, and maintainers of false religion ought to die by the sword' (Warren (1998) p 66). However, the queen instructed Archbishop Parker that no-one should be asked a second time to subscribe to the oath. It can therefore be accepted that the queen's nature was given to clemency and mercy.

Following the arrival of her Catholic cousin Mary Queen of Scots in 1568, parliament developed an increasing hard-line approach on Catholicism. Mary Stuart claimed that she was the legitimate heir to the throne, as 'Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate in a statute, which had never been formally repealed' (Johnson (1974) p 23). Elizabeth had her imprisoned, allowing her time to think about the situation she found herself in. Mary found support from the Northern nobility who were also, by and large, Catholic victims of Elizabeth. (According to Warren, in a bid to weaken the control of the great landowners who overshadowed the Crowns authority, she had stopped them from trading with the Low Countries). The Duke of Norfolk, considered to be the greatest of the nobles, planned to marry Mary.

This would in effect bestow the return of the Catholicism to England should the 'legitimate' heir to the throne marry a leading member of the aristocracy, who was himself a devout Catholic. When Elizabeth learned about the marriage negotiations between Mary Stuart and the powerful and influential Duke of Norfolk, she had him imprisoned in the Tower of London. Spurred on by members of the northern gentry, the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland attempted an insurgence in the North, in 1569, to show their discontent at the monarchy and government. It was a rather paltry attempt, which culminated in 'rebels entering Durham Cathedral and restoring the altars and the Catholic mass' (McGrath (1967) p 66). Although there was no fighting involved, such an act of defiance against Elizabeth was met by several hundred of the rebels being hanged for treason, as a warning to others. Pope Pius V issued 'Regnant in Excelsis', the bull excommunicating and deposing Elizabeth, whom he publicly referred to as the woman 'who pretended to be queen of England.

' It was to coincide with revolt of the earls but arr i ved too late and as it hadn't been formally communicated to the papists in England and consequently failed in the attempt to rouse support. 'If such a condemnation been issued by the papacy before the government and the established church had had time to consolidate their position, then there would have been at least a chance that Catholicism in England would have become a much more effective force' (McGrath (1967) p 72). Nevertheless, many historians appear to believe that by this time many Catholics had begun to support their monarch even though they still possessed Catholic beliefs. Many of the Catholic peers were excused from subscribing to the oath of Supremacy and although they were not involved in public employment she Elizabeth still had them at court.

They provided a sense of balance against the more aggressive Protestants. Elizabeth received fanatical loyalty by many Catholic grandees, giving reason to believe that 'it was precisely because they were Catholics that they made a point of their devotion to her' (Johnson 1974) p 342). She even visited the houses of known Catholics. As late as 1591 she is known to have enjoyed a weeks stay at Cow dray, under the hospitality of Lord Montague, 'a stiff Romanist'.

Nevertheless, The government responded to the papal bull by placing yet more pressure on the Catholics. Many bishops were encouraged to take firmer action against recusants, while more factions of people were to subscribe to the Oath of Supremacy. Although, more people were arrested, only those considered traitors were executed, including those placed on a charge of 'premunire' following the 1571 legislation prohibiting the import of any papal bulls or instruments. However, Elizabeth thwarted governmental attempts to impose tougher fines on recusants and to enforce the taking of communion as 'she insisted that she would introduce no inquisition to look into her subjects's ouls' (Doran (1994) p 54). In 1574 the first of the missionary priests arrived into England.

Also known as Douai priests they were English Catholic scholars who aimed to restore Catholic fervour through effective preaching and taking confessions, which was solely a Catholic practice. Later still, in 1580 the first of the Jesuits arrived. In an attempt to revive Catholicism in England, this missionary order recruited converts through the involvement of meditation. Obviously, both orders encouraged recusancy, which was initially dealt with by the government in the same manner as it had done so previously: the imposition of fines and sentences. However they soon began to treat missionaries as a real threat. In the same year as Bishops were ordered to compile lists of the number of recusants in their dioceses, a missionary priest by the name of Mayne was executed for bringing a papal bull into the country.

One year later, in 1878, two more were executed for refusing to acknowledge the Royal Act of Supremacy. Although the government wanted to enforce ruthless bills that force people to take communion and execute clerics who participated in masses, the Queen moderated their severity. The 'Act to retain the Queen's Majesty's subjects in their due obedience' was passed in 1581; fining clerics 200 marks and imprisoning them for one year, for the reading of mass. Those in attendance were also imprisoned for one year and fined 100 marks. Additionally, anyone who failed to attend Church of England Sunday services were fined lb 20 per month: although they were exonerated from taking communion. A further act was passed in 1585, against the missionaries by which any Catholic priest ordained since the start of Elizabeth's reign had 40 days to leave the country or would be tried for high treason.

It must be recognised that Elizabeth was not as bloodthirsty as her sister Mary, for she had more or less pardoned the Duke of Norfolk for his involvement in the rising of the earls. Neither would she sign the diktat to have Mary Stuart executed for her participation. However, following the exposure of the Ridolfi plot, in 1572, in which an Italian merchant sought to raise military assistance for Mary, to overthrow Elizabeth, the Duke of Norfolk was once again exposed. He was finally executed for high treason in the same year. Not until 1587, did Mary Stuart meet her death, following the discovery of yet another attempt to overthrow Queen Elizabeth and rising concerns of a Catholic revolt. Still Elizabeth had signed the warrant under duress and was inconsolable upon hearing that the execution had been performed.

Generally speaking, upon the accession of Elizabeth, the majority of the population of England, although Catholic, were indifferent to religion, created by two decades of inconsistent and contradictory views on religion by residing monarchs. Elizabeth however, provided stability through her 'conservative' views on religion and politics. Upon her accession to the throne, she adopted a 'less extreme' religious policy towards Catholics than that undertaken by her sister Mary towards Protestants. Rather than to obliterate Catholicism with forceful and castigatory legislation, which may have stimulated her Catholic subjects into conflict, through the virtue of patience and the imposition of penalties for recusancy, conformity was encouraged. (It has been estimated that as little as 2 per cent of the population remained Catholic upon her death). Even though she experienced a minor revolt by the northern earls, it was her one and only uprising in support of Catholicism and it could be argued that 'it was the religious veneer applied to treason' (Warren (1998) p 83).

Bibliography

Doran S. Elizabeth I and Religion 1558-1603 Routledge 1994 MacCaffery W.
The Shaping of the Elizabethan Regime Princeton University Elizabethan Politics 1558-72 Press 1969 McGrath P.
Papists and Puritans under Elizabeth I Blandford Press 1967 Warren J.
Elizabeth I: Religion and Foreign Affairs Hodder and Stoughton 1998 Johnson P.
Elizabeth: A Study in Power and Intellect Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1974 Marcus L.
S. Elizabeth: Collected Works University of Chicago Mueller J. & Press 2000 Rose M.
B. (Editors) Web Sites Modern History Sourcebook: Queen Elizabeth I of England Selected Writing and Speeches web I- An Overview web leaders / elizabeth 01. shtml The Life of Elizabeth web A. (2001), web leaders / elizabeth 01.
shtml Doran S. (1994), Elizabeth I and religion 1558-1603, p 48 Routledge Doran S.
1994), Elizabeth I and religion 1558-1603, p 7 Routledge Doran S.
1994), Elizabeth I and religion 1558-1603.
Routledge Jagger A. (1995) The life of Elizabeth I web P.
1974) Elizabeth: A Study in Power and Intellect Weidenfeld & Nicolson Johnson P.
1974) Elizabeth: A Study in Power and Intellect Weidenfeld & Nicolson Queen Elizabeth I quote: Modern History Sourcebook: Queen Elizabeth I of England Selected Writing and Speeches web P.
1967, Papists and Puritans under Elizabeth I, Blandford Press McGrath P.
1967, Papists and Puritans under Elizabeth I, Blandford Press Warren J.
1998), Elizabeth I: Religion and foreign affairs, Hodder & Stoughton Warren J.
1998), Elizabeth I: Religion and foreign affairs, p 66 Hodder & Stoughton Warren J.
1998), Elizabeth I: Religion and foreign affairs, p 69 Hodder & Stoughton Warren J.
1998), Elizabeth I: Religion and foreign affairs.