8-1Religion

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The two main religions in Elizabethan England were Catholic and Protestant. Queen Elizabeth was a Protestant, born and raised accordingly. Her sister Mary was a Roman Catholic. This created many issues due to Mary’s ways of treating people of other religions. ======

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People had problems with Mary because she executed her feelings much too strongly. According to [|Elizabethan-Era] , “ Reigning Monarchs dictated the 'favored' religion! Schools taught the official religion decreed by the reigning Queen or King. Failure to adhere to the 'favored' religion could often lead to great danger - Imprisonment! Torture! Execution! Adhering to the 'wrong' religion brought risks to personal wealth, freedom and life.” Queen Mary (Elizabeth’s sister) was a Catholic, but unlike her sister, persecuted anyone who practiced otherwise. Elizabeth restored Protestantism to England, but did not punish Catholics for their beliefs unless it was a threat of peace in England. This was quite a different way of ruling than her sister and previous ruler. This meant that there was only one legal way of believing or practicing religion in Mary’s reign, and people who went against  paid a dear price. Mary’s rule obviously caused many Protestants a lot of problems, but Elizabeth was a far kinder ruler. ======

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Even as helpful as Elizabeth was, come 1559, the Parliament was called to create a new Church of England as Elizabeth cut off the ties with the Roman Catholic Church through the Reformation Bill, as said by [|Elizabethan England Life], the site. The Reformation Bill, according to [|Elizabethan England Life], gave all the authority of the Church of England to the current monarch. The Oath of Supremacy was created, “instructing those in church office to swear acknowledge the monarch as head as both Church and state.” Not everyone liked this transition between churches. In Life __in Elizabethan England, the Church__ by Kathryn Hinds, Hinds states that, “The orderly switch from Catholicism to the Church of England worked…Yet there were still problems. Puritans believed Elizabeth had not reformed the church enough. Catholics felt she had gone too far.” The changes were hard and took a long time to get used to! But the book also said the England and Elizabeth had a much higher tolerance to other religions than other countries. “Elizabeth was interested in maintaining peace and order, not in forcing people to match their personal beliefs with hers.” This does not mean that no one was taking action against Queen Elizabeth. Pope Pius V declared Elizabeth guilty of heresy to the Church. The Pope,” encouraged English Catholics to rebel against her”. Soon after, England made it illegal to convert to Catholicism. Later it was treason to help a Catholic Priest, punishable by even death! ======

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Religion obviously played a very large role in England; it cost lives! Though Elizabeth was more benevolent to other religions than her sister, she was still a free religion ruler. Summarized, sometimes one had to pay the ultimate sacrifice for practicing their religion. ======

The Picture Above was found at: "The Elizabethan Era." //macdonnellofleinster.org//. May 5, 2005. The Capitol Scot. 20 Apr 2009 .