Impacts of Queen Elizabeth I’s Reign on England John Knox, one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, stated that “God hath revealed to some in our age that it is more than a monster in a nature that a women should reign and bear empire above men.” (Britannica). He had declared that people in their right minds knew that a woman should not rule an empire or hold power above a man. Despite the belief that women were not fit to rule, Queen Elizabeth rose to power and was declared one of the greatest monarchs of her time. While Queen Elizabeth I's reign gave rise to the love and appreciation for Art and Literature, it also impacted religion and the economy of England. Adored by Catherine Parr, her stepmother, Queen Elizabeth was pushed …show more content…
After the end of her half-sister Queen Mary’s reign, the kingdom was left in shambles. Queen Mary helped restore Catholic power and caused religious persecution against the protestants. Her reign induced a mass of religious tension, however Queen Elizabeth saw the damage her sister had done to their country and made an aim to restore England's peace. Queen Elizabeth abolished any power the Catholic church held on England, and was crowned “Supreme Governor of the Church”. The only reason for her not being crowned the “Supreme Head of the Church” was because the public believed that a woman was not befitting to rule a church. Although the title did not make much of a difference, because the queen still made a great deal of changes to the way religion was perceived, the public's apprehensions of a women not being able to rule a church or a kingdom were proven ungrounded. Something that must be noted is that Queen Elizabeth was a protestant and while the most of her new policies were protestant in doctrine, her religious policies were very moderate. Her policies never exhibited Protestantism as being preeminence to Catholicism. The queen never made efforts to ban Catholicism and as a matter of fact, she preserved many traditional Catholic ceremonies. The queen’s efforts to nationalize England proved effective as it helped bring prosperity to her 45 year reign. Queen Elizabeth's reign induced a turn in religious tensions that help shape England into what it is
The Factors That Shaped the Elizabethan Religious Settlement When Elizabeth I was proclaimed Queen in 1558 a new era of religious tolerance began. With her religious settlement, Elizabeth had to consider a number of different factors. Without doubt, the most important task following her accession was to resolve the ideological divisions in the country brought about by the religious changes in the past three monarch's reigns. However, when deciding on her own religious settlement, Elizabeth had a number of influencing factors.
She showed this best when she “took time for leisurely pursuits. She loved music and could play the lute herself,” (bio.com). Because of her love of the arts, Elizabeth gained social power. Social power for a ruler is the ability to use the arts in order to influence a country or a ruler’s image in a way that helps them keep power. Elizabeth loved going to see plays or dances in her free time. This allowed her to gain social power because it was a way to connect with her subjects. It allowed commoners to trust her more and they could feel they were more personally connected to her than they were before. Elizabeth’s complete social control could also be seen when artists would honor Elizabeth “by painting her portrait. These images reveal that she was an early fashionista,” (bio.com). Her image was a very important factor in her reign of power. She was able to present herself as very well respected and almost “God-like”. Elizabeth wanted to show people who would see her or her portraits that she was not just a weak woman. She was a force to be reckoned with and her people could see this. She gained social power because her subjects looked up to her and respected her very much. This also allowed commoners to trust her more because her image showed she was intelligent could make decisions for
One of the consequences of the Act was that the first allegiance of the clergy was changed from the papacy to Henry VIII. As well as this, traditional privileges the Church was entitled such as the benefit of the Clergy and sanctuary were abolished .This implies that the Act of Supremacy 1534 played a greater role in changing the relationship between the Church and State because it undermined the authority of the church within England as the controlling of the church’s finances, administration and development was shifted Henry. All of these changes suggest that the previous close relationship between the Church and state had weakened as they contributed to the paving for the growth of Protestantism. In addition, despite the fact both the Acts of Supremacy reinforced royal control, Henry being confirmed as ‘Supreme Head of Church’ would have had a greater impact on the relationship between the Church and State in the 16th century than Elizabeth becoming ‘Supreme Governor’ because Elizabeth’s title still applied that the pope was supreme head whilst Henry’s highlighted the fact that Henry was the only head of church - further undermining the influence of the
With any new monarch’s ascension to the throne, there comes with it changes in the policies of the country. From Elizabeth’s new council, to Henry’s documented polices and even to William the Silent’s inaction in response to threats were all policies that needed to be worked out by the new rulers. This group of rulers all had something in common; they chose to let their people make their religious preference solely on their beliefs but they all differed in their ways of letting this come about. This was monumental for the time period in which they lived, but it was something that needed to be done to progress national unity.
Queen Elizabeth I was crowned queen of England when she as only 25 years old (Queen Elizabeth I - Biography). She became the third queen to rule England in her own right. The first was older cousin Lady Jane Grey who was voted out after nine days in office. Second, was older sister Queen Mary I who exacted anyone who disagreed with her beliefs involving religion. Both of them were disasters to the country (Queen Elizabeth - Facts). England was struggling with money, war, and religious strife but Queen Elizabeth I was ready to take that burden and return England back to its former
Queen Mary had an unsuccessful reign because she failed to return England totally back to Catholicism which was her main goal. Although Queen Mary had cleared out all Protestant bishops and replaced them with Catholic ones that only lasted during her reign. Queen Mary had restored the Catholic Mass and banned Holy Communion. But she did not execute everyone who was not catholic. Therefore England was not all catholic. Whenever Queen Mary Tudor died in 1558, possibly of cancer, all her hopes of ruling a completely Catholic country died with her. Elizabeth I was her successor. (royal.gov.uk)
Her first order of business was to eliminate religious unrest. Elizabeth lacked the fanaticism of her siblings, Edward VI favored Protestant radicalism, Mary I, conservative Catholicism, which enabled her to devise a compromise that,basically, reinstated Henrician reforms. She was, however, compelled to take a stronger Protestant stance for two reasons: the machinations of Mary Queen of Scots and persecution of continental Protestants by the two strongholds of Orthodox Catholicism, Spain and France. The situation with Mary Queen of Scots was most vexing to Elizabeth. Mary, in Elizabeth's custody beginning in 1568 (for her own protection from radical Protestants and disgruntled Scots), gain...
Queen Elizabeth I was said to be one of the best rulers of England. Unlike rulers before her, she was a Protestant and not a Catholic. She was not stupid though. She did go to church and did everything that Catholics did to prevent getting her head cut off under the rules of her sister Mary. Elizabeth was very young when she came to rule. She was only 17 years old when her sister Mary died and she took over.
Upon the death of her sister--in November of 1558--Elizabeth ascended to the thrown of England. Until Mary’s rule, no woman--apart from the unrecognized rule of Matilda, daughter of Henry I--had ruled England of her own right1. Much like her sister, Elizabeth began her rule widely accepted and welcomed2. There were, however, still many who felt that women were unable to rule, being that women were said to be the weaker sex. John Knox argued that, “God by the order of his creation hath spoiled women of authority and dominion, [and] also that man hath seen, proved and pronounced just causes why that it so should be.”3 Women had always been no more then property, first to their fathers and then their husbands. If a women were to be the anointed queen of a realm of her own right and then marry, whom was beholden to whom? A woman was to do as instructed by her husband in all things, yet a sovereign was to be under the command of God only.
Gender was the leading cause of distress in the 1500’s: King Henry VIII wanted nothing more than to have a son, yet was “cursed” with the legacy of a sickly son, whom died before the age of 18 and two daughters, one of whom broke every convention of her gender. Queen Elizabeth I never married nor had children, yet can be considered one of England’s most successful monarchs. By choosing King James VI of Scotland as her heir, unbeknownst to her, she created the line that leads to the modern Queen of England, Elizabeth II. The question posed is then, how did Elizabeth I’s gender affect her rule?
In 1553, Elizabeth’s half brother, Edward, died at the age of nine. Shortly after, Elizabeth’s half sister took the throne. Her name was Mary. Mary caused many problems for England. Mary believed that England should follow one religion and anyone who did not follow this religion would be executed. Mary was Catholic. She later got the nickname “bloody Mary” because she killed so many Protestants. This caused a problem for Elizabeth because she was Protestant. Many people who did not believe the Catholic faith thought that Elizabeth was the rightful ruler and plotted against Mary. The leader of this plot was named Thomas Wyatt. He was organizing a rebellion and soon Mary found out of this plan. She then had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London. Elizabeth told her sister she had no idea of the plot but her sister would not believe her. When soldiers came to get Elizabeth and take her to the Tower, she was so scared Elizabeth literally would not move.
Elizabeth I of England was a ruler faced with difficult task of governing a “state [that] was relatively impoverished and weak, without a standing army, an efficient police force, or a highly developed, effective bureaucracy,” however she was a skilled leader who effectively met many of her challenges (Greenblatt). She used her “skill at manipulating factions” to control her court and pacify hostile foreign leaders (Greenblatt). Economically, she managed to keep the nation running despite mounting war expenses. She endeavored to strike a middle road in religion, adopting moderate Protestant doctrine, which most accepted, even if they didn’t fully agree. As queen, she often used her gender as a tool to help her control those with whom she interacted,
Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I may have been the English Reformation’s greatest benefactors, all because of self interest. Henry VIII was not originally Protestant, but after the pope denied him of his divorce, Henry VIII took things into his own hands. Due to the power kings had in the Middle Ages, Henry VIII was able to control Parliament and force it to do whatever he wanted. So in 1534, Henry VIII forced Parliament to pass a law he made known as the Act of Supremacy. The Act of Supremacy stated that the king ought to be the head of the Church of England. This law gave the king complete power over the Church of England, instead of the pope. However, the type of church and state relationship did not change. Rather all the Act of Supremacy did was take power from the pope and give it to the king. Surprisingly, the Catholics did not retaliate against this strong change. The pope had always been the head of the church, but now the king had taken his position. This serves as an example of nationalism. The Catholics did not think about how removing the pope could harm their religion in any way. However, instead the people blindly followed Henry VIII because he was the leader of the nation and they assumed he was right. Also, by imposing other laws that punished Protestants, Henry VIII did not give the people much of a choice. Fortunately, for Henry VII, nationalis...
Queen Elizabeth I was born on September 7, 1533, in Greenwich, England. Elizabeth reigned queen of England and Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death. Elizabeth never married, and died a virgin, sometimes called “The Virgin Queen” (Gale 2). Elizabeth was born to King Henry Tudor VIII and Anne Boleyn; she was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. This paper will prove Queen Elizabeth I was a woman wholly devoted to her country and brought it much prosperity and growth; these qualities made her the most respected leader of the entire history of England.
Elizabeth was under tremendous pressure from the beginning to create a unified country through a stable religion, however even after the Elizabethan settlement the pressure had not dissipated as both religions in England, Protestant and Catholic were unhappy with the compromise. Elizabeth had gone ahead with the settlement as the factors of her religious preferences, creating a unified country along with a parliament who supported her drove her to do. This settlement however created dire consequences as Elizabeth was now under constant threat, many of the English people opposed her while two major powers watched from a distance. The Elizabethan settlement was definitely an important decision in history, as it would decide the outcome and future of England.