The Elizabethan Era in England Essay

While in a time of the English Church being under the control of the Catholic Church and Pope in Rome, King Henry VIII claimed the power of controlling the whole English Church through the Act of Supremacy. This caused for any that are still supporting the Pope and the power of the Catholic Church to be destroyed in the King’s eyes, especially monasteries. With the country no longer under the Catholic rule, it soon became a Protestant country.

At the beginning of her reign, she made the Church of England the official religion of England and she fashioned her court after that of her fathers. For a woman during that era, Elizabeth was a very daring and smart ruler. For example, she secretly encouraged sailors such as Francis Drake to make raids on Spanish shipping and challenge their naval superiority. When she was a little girl, she was well educated and was able to speak several languages, including French, Spanish, and Latin. In addition, throughout Elizabeth's reign, there was always the threat of hostilities in some form or another. Elizabeth kept the peace between rival leaders of different religions by dominating her court so she could keep the balance of power.2 She was smart enough to come up with a plan which kept the church at bay with their questions of marriage.3 She also calmed the Spanish and the French by entertaining suitors of each respective country; Philip II of Spain and Duke of Anjou of France, but she never married either of them and was therefore known as " the Virgin queen".4 Elizabeth was a Protestant queen who was not always on good terms with most Catholic rulers of Europe. Because of that, there were several assassination plots against her so the Catholics could put Mary, Queen of Scots, in her place. During the 1580's, Elizabeth began to bring her full weight onto the catholic rebels. Hundreds of Catholics died at the stake just as the

Following the Reformation, there was a great division within the Church between the Catholics and Protestants. This tension was eased during the reign of Queen Elizabeth with the passing of the Act of Supremacy in 1559, which created the Church of England and consequently the Anglican Church. Eventually Anglicanism became known as the “New Catholicism”. While the pope was no longer recognized, bishops, and many aspects of medieval heritage was retained under the Anglican Church. It was highly supported by many elites due to its powerful expression of culture. In Voltaire’s letters, he acknowledges that even though everyone is allowed to practice their own religion, the “true religion that in which a man makes his fortune” is the Church of England. It was very difficult for people to obtain jobs in England and Ireland unless they were proclaimed followers. This especially depicted

Religious conflict in england, King Henry the VIII broke with the roman catholic church in the 1530’s, created the English protestant reformation.

Queen Elizabeth’s reign lasted from 1558-1603 during the Protestant Reformation, the Counter Reformation, and the Renaissance (when it was brought to England). She achieved major successes and established a stabilized nation during her reign. When she assumes the throne, after the death of her half sister, Queen Mary I, she faced many challenges, such as the bankruptcy of England, European powers that were trying to reestablish Catholicism, such as Spain and France, and negative criticism denouncing her as a ruler and as the head of the Church of England. It was against church teaching and Bible teachings, for any woman to rule over a country. Elizabeth I inherited the responsibility of governing the kingdom of England despite criticism. In

During the early 1500s and mid 1600s western civilization went through major change with the protestant reformation. One county that was affected by the reformation during this time was Great Britain. Leading up to its reformation Great Britain had key factors within the english reformation that distinguish it from the protestant reformation and its entirety. What makes this religious change different is the cause of this event happening. Some historians like to blame or give credit to the woman, Anne Boleyn, for the drastic change that occurred within England's church in the 16th century. Saying that Boleyn was a reformist and wanted the protestant reformation to reach Great britain. While others believe that Anne Boleyn was not influential in change of England's religious change from catholic to anglicanism. After extensive research it is easy to see that there is no evidence that can prove Anne Boleyn having responsibility for the dramatic

The New Reformation was an era with new ideas and feud between religions. In the 1500s, England believed in brand new things. Autocrats enforced the eulogized religion. Academies taught religions authorized by autocrats. Failing to comply with the eulogized religions is punishable by confinement, laceration, and death penalty. Complying with the wrong religion has its own risks for privy treasure, laxity, and vitality. Queen Mary accepted the Catholic religion and charred the Protestants alive and victimized them. Queen Elizabeth accepted and allowed Protestantism to be a religion. Queen Elizabeth allowed people to accept the Catholic religion without being persecuted. The Catholics desired to substitute Mary and replace Queen Elizabeth. (Linda Alchins, Religion in Elizabethan England, paragraph # 3). Catholics thinks that

The short yet significant reign of Edward bought with it a series of severe changes to England and all those within it, many of them taking a religious nature. As the once unquestionable authority of the church became challenged by both critics and affiliates alike, England witnessed an almost inevitable reformation. However, the impact on the majority was not necessarily beneficial- as Duffy wrote, the Reformation bought with it an ‘assault on traditional religion’, leaving many men that ‘breathed easier for the accession of a Catholic queen’.

Elizabeth’s reign, however very few of the proposed legislation is passed, for example in 1571-2

With England torn apart by religious unrest brought about by Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I, Elizabeth I employed a pragmatic plan during the 1500s in order to bring about peace. In introducing a religious policy, she devised a compromise between the theological beliefs of Protestantism and Catholicism. Firstly, she adjusted her predecessors’ title of “ ‘the only supreme head of the church’ ” to “ ‘only supreme governor of this realm’ ” (Spielvogel 407). Though the alteration did

Elizabeth I’s ability to imprison allowed her to control parliamentary outcomes to some degree, in 1559 she imprisoned Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, leading to a loss of votes and the passing of the Act of Uniformity. This is a key example of how Elizabeth used her royal power to manage parliament, rid of awkward members and secure her desired outcome. The queen used her power to prorogue efficiently, such as during the push for the 1559 Religious Settlement. This gave Elizabeth time to plan and listen to the advice Cecil; allowing her to be careful and shrewd decisions when managing parliament. Elizabeth argued her status as a monarch to control Parliament’s demands. In 1556, the Commons petitioned Elizabeth to marry and name a successor, in which she stated “I am your anointed Queen, I will never be...constrained to do anything”; this effectively controlled Parliament and successfully forbade further discussion. Elizabeth’s success was further strengthened by her personal tactics in controlling parliament.

This article’s purpose is to express the danger of breaking the law in England. Most of the punishments of our time are deemed cruel and unusual. The death penalty can no longer be enacted in cases of theft or highway robbery. The following paragraphs will describe the various instruments of punishment (torture) of the period.

During the elizabethan era most were considered Catholics, however in the early 1500s the practice of roman Catholics was questioned during the reformation according to Linda Alchin. The beliefs of German, Martin Luther caused Protestantism. Martin Luther's supporters protested against the rules and regulations, which resulted in the laws that put a limit on the new ideas Martin was trying to spread (Alchin 2). The protesters decided to create there own religion and beliefs, now known as the Protestants.

In 1559 Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was crowned Queen. Elizabeth sought to find a middle ground during her rein (1558-1603) in England, by allowing both Catholics and Protestants to worship without fear of any repercussions. However, Gilbert (1976) that ‘Elizabeth I and her successors had legislated to make Anglican worship compulsory’ (p. 4). By introducing the Act of Uniformity of 1559 it laid out the rules of worship that both religions were to follow and reissued the Book of Common Prayer for use in worship. The Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 also set to define the doctrine of the Church of England which set out a middle path between the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church and the Protestants (Wolffe, 2008). By the end of Elizabeth’s I forty five year reign, the majority of people in English society were Protestant. As the older, mainly Catholic members of society had died through old age (Christianity in Britain, 2011). Knight and Mason (2006) describe a dissenter during

Elizabeth I in now the successor to the throne, and was crowned on January 1559. She restored Protestantism to