Queen Elizabeth I: Reign and Religion

Queen Elizabeth I: Reign and Religion

"I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the kingdom of England," (Thomas). This was said by Queen Elizabeth when she was talking with parliament. This quote is very intriguing because she was one truly loved by the people of her time. The Golden Age was named for her. She was very devoted to her country. Her religion, reign, and peace were things that meant the most to her. She was a valued Queen of her time. Queen Elizabeth loved things dearly.

Elizabeth was born on September 7th, 1533. Her father was Henry VIII and her mother was Anne Boleyn. She had a difficult life as a child. Her mother was executed on false charges in 1536 (Thomas). She barely knew her parents at all. Her father died when she was only 14 years old. Elizabeth's half brother Edward would become king, then her half sister Mary Queen before Elizabeth. Elizabeth never married. She was put in prison when Mary was Queen. She would quickly gain and held the loyalty of the English people (Paper Store, Inc).

There were multiple things that were important to her and one that was most important was religion. Religion was changed from Protestant to Catholic when her half- sister Mary was Queen of England. Mary had Elizabeth imprisoned for over a year and spent two of her months in a tower. After she was released from jail she conformed to Catholicism because she didn't want to risk being put back in prison by Mary (Thomas). Elizabeth was glad to have her freedom when she was crowned Queen. While Elizabeth was born and raised as a Protestant she also liked some of the Catholics beliefs. It was her decision to make the Church of England become Protestant again. Soon after her succession to the throne there was a settlement called "The Elizabethan Religious Settlement," that had two acts under it (Thomas).

The first act was the Act of Supremacy. This act put Elizabeth in ultimate control of the Church of England (Thomas). She was often referred to as Supreme Governor of the Church of England (Thomas). People didn't like the fact that she was put in charge for different reasons, one being that she was a woman and had control over England. Another reason was that she was a Protestant and that scared the people who were Catholics. They also opposed a threat to Elizabeth.

The other act was the Act of Uniformity. This act establishes a set form of worship for England and Wales (Thomas). This act was a very difficult act to pass because of the clergy being Catholic. Elizabeth liked certain rituals about both Protestants and catholic's faith. Instead of her picking one of these she made the religion of the Church something vague that both religions could attend to. She did however make church attendance mandatory on Sunday's and holy days. If people did not attend they were to pay a fine that was given to the poor. At first Queen Elizabeth knew about some of the people who were catholic having religious ceremonies in their homes and she turn her head to make everyone happy. She was loved by the people.

Queen Elizabeth took her faith very seriously. Elizabeth even had her own private chapels in her palaces. She wanted the church to be popular and wanted a church that fit both religions. Her main concern for England during her reign was peace. According to the book she edited a religious book just for the Catholics. This book was called the Book of Common Prayer. She made it more acceptable to the catholic faith (Spielvogel). She came up with the Thirty-Nine Articles; this was a new confession to faith that helped defined theological issues. Elizabeth