Skip to content

Elizabethan Settlement

When Elizabeth I became queen in 1558, England was deeply divided over religion. The country had experienced rapid changes under Edward VI, Mary I and the earlier Tudor monarchs. Catholics, moderate Protestants and more radical reformers had different ideas about how the Church of England should be organised and how religious services should be conducted.

Elizabeth and her government therefore faced an urgent political and religious problem. The settlement introduced in 1559 sought to establish a Protestant church that was acceptable to the Crown while avoiding some of the more radical changes demanded by Protestant reformers. It became known as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement.

Act of Uniformity, 1559
The Act of Uniformity, 1559.

Why was a Religious Settlement needed?

Religion had become closely connected with politics and royal authority. The break with Rome under Henry VIII had separated the English Church from papal authority, while Edward VI had introduced further Protestant reforms. Mary I had then restored Roman Catholicism and attempted to reverse many of Edward’s changes.

Elizabeth inherited this unsettled situation. There were Catholics who wanted the restoration of traditional worship, Protestants who wanted further reform and others who preferred a more moderate approach. Religious divisions had already contributed to persecution, rebellion and political instability.

There were also international consequences. England was surrounded by powerful Catholic states, while religious conflict was causing instability elsewhere in Europe. Elizabeth therefore needed a settlement that established the religious position of the Crown without creating unnecessary political opposition.

Elizabeth and the Church

One of the first questions was the relationship between the monarch and the Church. Henry VIII had claimed authority over the English Church, but Elizabeth did not adopt the title Supreme Head of the Church.

Instead, the Act of Supremacy of 1559 restored royal authority over the Church and established Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Clergy and royal officials were required to swear an oath recognising the Queen’s authority in religious matters.

The wording was significant. It asserted Elizabeth’s authority while avoiding the more controversial claim that a woman was the head of the Church. A number of Catholic bishops refused to accept the settlement and lost their positions.

The Act of Uniformity

The Act of Uniformity of 1559 established a standard form of worship throughout England. Churches were required to use the Book of Common Prayer and attend church services according to the prescribed form.

The prayer book itself represented a compromise. It drew on earlier Protestant versions introduced during Edward VI’s reign but included elements that made the form of worship less obviously radical. The aim was to establish a common form of worship without adopting every reform demanded by Protestant reformers.

The break with Rome and the religious changes of the previous reigns therefore remained important background to Elizabeth’s settlement.

The Royal Injunctions

The settlement was supported by a series of Royal Injunctions issued in 1559. These provided further instructions about how the Church should operate and how the settlement was to be implemented in practice.

They addressed matters such as religious teaching, church services, the appearance of churches and the conduct of the clergy. Together with the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, they helped establish the religious framework of Elizabeth’s reign.

A Protestant Settlement with Compromises

The Elizabethan Settlement established England as a Protestant country while retaining some features of traditional worship. This helped Elizabeth create a religious system that was different from both the Roman Catholic Church and the more radical Protestant churches developing elsewhere in Europe.

It was not accepted by everyone. Catholics continued to oppose aspects of the settlement, while some Protestants believed that the Church had not been reformed far enough. These disagreements became an important source of tension during Elizabeth’s reign.

The settlement therefore provided a religious framework for Elizabethan England, but it did not end religious disagreement. The challenges to the Religious Settlement became an important feature of the reign.

Further Reading