Timeline of key events

May 1559

Act of Supremacy was passed. It re-established the break from Rome and an independent Church of England (like Henry VIII in 1534). As a compromise, Elizabeth chose the less controversial title of Supreme Governor rather than Supreme Head of the Church (to please the Catholics due to removing papal authority).

May 1559

Act of Uniformity was passed. This created a new Book of Common Prayer which was moderately worded but contained radical Protestant ideas. Catholic Mass was abandoned. The Bible and services were in English and the clergy were allowed to marry. Old catholic practices like pilgrimages and saints’ images were banned. To please Catholics Priests were to wear traditional Catholic-style vestments and ornaments such as crosses and candles could be placed on the communion table (which replaced the altar).

1563

Thirty-Nine Articles defined the doctrines and practices of the Church of England.

1567

Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate the throne.

1568

Mary, Queen of Scots, is imprisoned in England after fleeing Scotland.

1568

A school for training seminary priests was founded by William Allen in Douai in the Netherlands to train English Catholics as missionaries to go back to England and keep Catholicism alive.

1569

Northern Rebellion: Leading Catholic nobles, including the Dukes of Northumberland and Norfolk, led a rebellion in the North aiming to depose Elizabeth.

1570

Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth which allowed all Catholics to disobey her laws or be excommunicated themselves.

1570s

Puritans were also unhappy with the religious compromise. They found the Catholic parts of Elizabeth’s ‘Middle Way’ offensive. Many puritans were senior people at Court, in the Church and in Parliament.

1571

The Treason Act was passed as Elizabeth was increasingly threatened by Catholic plots and assassination attempts. Denying Elizabeth’s supremacy and bringing the Popes bull of excommunication into England could both be punished by death and if anyone left the country for more than 6 months their land would be confiscated.

1571

Ridolfi Plot to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with Mary Queen of Scots.

1572

Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, is executed for treason.

1572

Fear of Catholicism in England grew as St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in France occurred – thousand of French Protestants were killed in mob violence, believed to be brought about by the Catholic government.

1576

MPs no longer allowed to discuss religious matters without Elizabeth’s permission.

1580s

Jesuits were sent to England as educators to gain influence over rich and powerful families and to turn them against the Queen and Anglican Church (serving the Pope).

1580

A famous English Jesuit Priest, Edmund Campion, arrived in Lancashire where Catholicism was strongest. Later he moved to London, holding church services in the homes of important catholic families.

1581

Due to increasing Catholic activity, new laws were passed. The fine for recusancy was raised to £20 and any attempt to convert people to the Catholic faith was made a treasonable offence.

Focus

Elizabeth’s ‘Middle Way’ brought both Catholic and Protestant elements into the Anglican Church. Some Catholics were involved in rebellions and plots against Elizabeth. Around 3000 mercenaries and Jesuits tried to revive Catholicism in England. Puritans spoke out in Parliament, preaches and published pamphlets. The government took a harsher line from the 1570s. A new Treason Act and various laws were passed by the government to deal with those who disagreed with the ‘Middle Way’. Nearly 200 Catholics were executed during Elizabeth’s reign. Religious civil wars did not take place as they did in Europe. Mary, Queen of Scots, was considered the rightful Queen of England. After she fled, Mary was held a prisoner in England for 19 years in remote locations. Mary was involved in Catholic plots against Elizabeth and Walsingham eventually entrapped Mary in the Babington Plot which saw her being trialled and executed for treason. Elizabeth’s instructions regarding Mary’s death warrant were ignored by her councillors. Tensions between England and Spain, and Elizabeth and Philip, existed for years before they actually went to war. A rebellion in the Netherlands threatened Spanish power and disrupted English trade. Spain supported Mary, Queen of Scot’s Catholic plots. The Spanish Armada of 1588 were defeated due to Spanish mistakes, the tactical skill of the English and the weather. This boosted national pride and was a great propaganda victory for Elizabeth.

1583

The Throckmorton Plot - an attempt by English Roman Catholics to murder Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with her first cousin once removed, Mary, Queen of Scots.

1585

Act Against Jesuits and Seminary Priests. This made becoming a priest treason, and all priested were ordered to leave England within 40 days on pain of death.

1586

Babington Plot and trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, for treason. It was a plan in to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, her Roman Catholic cousin, on the English throne.

February 1587

Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed at Fotheringhay Castle (increased already hostile tensions with Philip II of Spain).

1588

Defeat of the Spanish Armada.

1593

Large gathering of Catholics were made illegal in 1593 and Catholics’ freedom of movement was restricted. They were allowed to travel no further than 5 miles from their homes.

1596 and 1597

Philip launched 2 further Armadas but both were driven back by storms.

1597

The priest-hole builder, Nicholas Owen, helped to mastermind the escape of a Jesuit, John Gerard, from the Tower of London.

1603

By 1603, the government had been largely successful at wiping out the Catholics as a serious force. Around 10% of the population were Catholic sympathisers by the end of Elizabeth’s reign, but only 2 per cent were actual recusants.

Key terms

Armada

A fleet of warships.

Beacon

A fire set up in a high position as a warning. A chain had been built across England prior to the Armada.

Broadside

A firing of all the guns from one side of a warship.

Bull

A decree issued by the Pope.

Calvinist

Protestant followers of John Calvin of Geneva.

Chaplain

A clergyman attached to the private chapel of a prominent person.

Clergy

Churchmen, including priests, bishops and archbishops.

Conspiracy

A secret plan to do something unlawful or harmful.

Culverins

A type of cannon used on English ships that was light, easy to reload and had a long range.

Episcopal

A Church hierarchy structured around bishops.

Excommunicated

To be expelled from the Church.

Galleon

A large shp, especially used by Spain, either as a warship or for trading.

Galley

A type of ship with sails and oars.

Gauntlet

An armoured glove worn by a soldier.

Heretic

A person who did not follow the official religion of the country.

Huguenot

A French Protestant. They suffered severe persecution and many emigrated.

Jesuit

Roman Catholic missionary priests

Martyr

Somebody who suffers and dies for their beliefs.

Mass

One of the seven sacraments, re-enacting the last supper. A key Catholic ritual.

Key People

Mary, Queen of Scots.

Daughter of James V of Scots and Mary of Guise. Mary Stuart became Mary, Queen of Scots, at ages 6 days but lived in France between 1548 and 1561. Her mother ruled as regent in her absence. Brought up as Roman Catholic. Beautiful, intelligent, music and an accomplished linguist. She married the heir to the French throne and was briefly Queen of France for 18 months but her husband, Francis II, died aged only 16. 2^nd marriage was to Henry, Lord Darnley, but was brief and unhappy. However, she produced a male heir called James. Darnley’s murder and Mary’s third marriage to Earl Bothwell triggered a chain of events that led to Mary’s forced abdication in 1567. She was succeeded by her baby son James VI. Mary fled to England and lived in captivity, though in relative luxury, for 19 years. She was executed following the Babington Plot in 1587.

Philip II of Spain.

Married Mary I of England (Bloody Mary) in 1553. Both monarchs were Catholic. Philip didn’t serve Mary well as husband, dragged England into a war against the papacy and France and allowed France to absorb Calais which had belonged to England since the 1340s. Philip and Elizabeth had poor relations due to religion and the fact that Elizabeth rejected his hand in marriage.

Nationalism

Patriotic feelings marked by a desire for superiority over other countries.

Prophesising

Prayer meetings where the Bible was discussed and sermons said.

Puritan

An extreme Protestant, favouring very plain churches and simple church services without music.

Pursuivants

Government priest-hunters who would search houses suspects of hiding Catholics.

Recusant

Someone, usually a Roman Catholic, who refused to go to Church services.

Reformation

A movement for the reform of the abuses in the Roman Catholic Church which ended up splitting the Church with the establishment of separate Protestant Churches.

Sacrament

A sacred ritual recognised as of particular importance.

Sceptre

An ornamental want held in the hand of a ruling monarch at the coronation as a sign of their power and godliness.

Seminary

A school providing training for priests.

Transubstantiation

The belief that the bread and wine used in the Mass turn into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Uniformity

All being the same.

Vestments

The garments worn by clergy.