Elizabeth, with her newly selected
government, had to restore a Protestant Church to the country, following
the restoration of Catholicism in the reign of her half-sister, Mary.
The making of this Church is known as "The Elizabeth Religious Settlement".
It was comprised of two Acts - THE ACT OF SUPREMACY andTHE
ACT OF UNIFORMITY.
THE ACT OF SUPREMACY
It was this act that gave Elizabeth ultimate
control of the Church of England. In the reign of her father and brother,
the monarch had been "Head of the Church in England", but under Elizabeth,
this was modified to "Supreme Governor of the Church in England".
The change may have been made to appease Catholics who could not accept
the monarch as "Head of the Church", seeing the church as the Pope's domain,
or it may have been made because Elizabeth was a woman. In the sixteenth
century, women were regarded as inferior to men in spiritual matters, and
many were uncomfortable with the idea of a woman being in charge.
This act also included an oath of loyalty to the Queen that the clergy
were expected to take. If they did not take it, then they would lose their
office. A High Commission was established to ensure that the oath
was taken. The oath was as follows:
“I A. B.
do utterly testify and declare in my conscience, That the Queen's Highness
is the only Supream Governor of this Realm, and of all other her Highness
Dominions and Countries, as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things
or Causes, as Temporal; and that no foreign Prince, Person, Prelate State
or Potentate, hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority,
Preheminence, or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within this Realm;
and therefore I do utterly renounce and forsake all foreign Jurisdictions,
Powers, Superiorities and Authorities, and do promote, that from henceforth
I shall bear faith and true Allegiance to the Queen’s Highness, her Heirs
and lawful Successors, and to my Power shall asssist and defend all Jurisdictions,
Preheminences, Privileges and Authorities granted or belonging to the Queen’s
Highness, her Heirs and Successors, or united and annexed to the Imperial
Crown of this Realm. So help me God, and by the Contents of this
Book.”
THE ACT OF UNIFORMITY
This was the crux of the Elizabethan Church,
establishing a set form of worship. The Prayer books of Edward VI were
fused into one, and were to be used in every church in the land. Church
attendance on Sundays and holy days was made compulsory, with a twelve
pence fine to be collected if people did not attend, the money to be given
to the poor. The wording of the Communion was to be vague so that
Protestants and Catholics could both participate, and the ornaments and
vestments of the Church were to be retained as they had been before the
reforms in the second year of Edward's reign. Although the passage
of the Act of Supremacy through Parliament had been relatively easy, passing
the Act of Uniformity was much more difficult. A large number of the Parliament,
who were still Catholic, opposed the bill, and it was eventually only passed
by three votes- 21 to 18.
The religious settlement began to be implemented
in the summer of 1559. Despite the problems that sometimes arose, it proved
to be a remarkable success.
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