Early modern Britain 1509–1745, Year 11: the Catholic threat and the Puritans (Elizabethan England option)

1569

提示The year after Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived in England.

为什么The rebels heard Mass in Durham Cathedral and aimed to free Mary and restore the Catholic religion. They found little support further south and fled as the queen's army approached. Hundreds were executed afterwards.

That she was excommunicated and her subjects need not obey her

提示The document is known as 'Regnans in Excelsis'.

为什么From then on English Catholics could be seen as possible traitors, whatever they did. Parliament answered in 1571 by making it treason to say that Elizabeth ought not to be queen.

The Ridolfi Plot

提示Named after the Italian banker who carried the messages.

为什么The plot was discovered and Norfolk was executed in 1572. Later plots followed the same pattern: Throckmorton in 1583 and Babington in 1586 both aimed to replace Elizabeth with Mary, with foreign help.

Edmund Campion

提示He travelled in disguise, preaching and saying Mass in Catholic houses.

为什么Priests trained in colleges abroad came to keep the Catholic faith alive in England. They said their mission was only religious. The government treated them as agents of a foreign enemy, and from 1585 any such priest found in England could be executed.

Recusant

提示From the Latin for 'to refuse'.

为什么At first the fine was twelve pence, one shilling, for each week missed. In 1581 it was raised to £20 a month, far more than most people earned in a year. The aim was to make loyalty to the old religion too costly to keep up.

Everything that seemed Catholic, such as priests' vestments and ornaments

提示They wanted the Church 'purified'.

为什么They wanted plain services centred on preaching and the Bible. The more extreme, known as Presbyterians, wanted to abolish bishops as well. Elizabeth saw her settlement of 1559 as final and would not change it.

Prophesyings

提示Despite the name, they had nothing to do with foretelling the future.

为什么The queen feared they would spread Puritan ideas beyond her control. To her, deciding how the Church was run was the monarch's business, not the clergy's.

Edmund Grindal

提示He wrote the queen a long letter explaining why he could not obey.

为什么He remained out of favour until his death in 1583. It showed that even the head of the Church could not defy the queen on religion.

John Whitgift

提示He shared the queen's dislike of Puritan demands.

为什么He enforced the queen's policy of a single form of worship for everyone, and he was given stronger powers for the church court that dealt with those who would not conform.

His right hand was cut off

提示The penalty was aimed at the part of him that wrote.

为什么He objected to the queen marrying a Catholic. It showed that Elizabeth would not allow her subjects, Puritan or otherwise, to comment on matters she regarded as hers alone.