Elizabeth I and Religion essays

Elizabeth I and Religion essays The development of nation states was essential to the Early Modern Period. The ability of countries to unify their populations around a central capital proved critical to their long-term strength. The Protestant Reformation brought this state building into question, for it raised the issue of permanent religious division. No state was more significant during this period than England, and no reign in England was more important for the building of the English nation state than that of Elizabeth I. Elizabeth negotiated a confusing obstacle course between Catholicism and radical Protestantism. In the process, Anglicanism, the English protestant creed, proved not a means to divide the country, but on the contrary, to unify the country. The following essay will explain how and why. Elizabeth ascended the throne at age twenty-five, immediately identifying herself as a Protestant sympathizer. She made slight religious adjustments under her Protestant brother, Edward VI, and then under her Catholic sister, Mary I, but Elizabeth was always more receptive to the Protestants. Elizabeth solidified this position by walking out on the bishop of Carlisle when he refused her request not to elevate the Host on Christmas Day and again at her coronation three weeks later. Although the Catholics initially hoped, albeit somewhat optimistically, that Elizabeth would be sympathetic to their cause, they now knew decisively that she would not support them. Many Catholic bishops also refused to crown Elizabeth queen, further fostering her support for the Protestants who stood firmly behind her. Elizabeth was also keenly aware that she could not cede too much ground to the Protestants. Based on the foreign alliances in Europe at the time, she knew a fervent rejection of Catholicism would encourage Spain to make an alliance with France against England. She had not forgotten the bloody executions carried out under Mary and the strong mobilizing effec...