Religion In The Elizabethan Era

The story that many have heard regarding religion during the Elizabethan Era is typical: Henry VIII ended up excommunicated from the Catholic Church in his search for an heir, Edward didn’t do much in his rule and died, Mary went back to Catholicism and murdered Protestants, and then Elizabeth came back and cleaned up the mess that her father and sister had created. However, that’s not exactly how it went down. Edward wasn’t as much of a sick, lazy boy as suspected. Mary had reasons for burning those Protestants. And Elizabeth certainly didn’t fix all the religious discord in England during the time period. Additionally, it wasn’t just a squabble between Catholics and Protestants. Anglicans, pagans, and others got in on the mix, leaving behind

The year is 1536, and Henry VIII has just divorced Catherine of Aragon since she was unable to mother a heir to the throne. His 1534 Act of Supremacy made this possible. The act made Henry VIII the head of the new Church of England, whereas before in England, Henry had been known as the defender of the faith, and being anything other than Catholic was considered high treason. In addition, the clergy were now required to swear an oath of fealty to Henry and not Rome. Henry ended up dissolving many monasteries, and taking their wealth. After his death, his son, Edward, took over as ruler of England. His rule was fairly short due to his death at a young age, and so presumably, he didn’t have much time to wreak havoc. However, Edward actually burned and destroyed religious art, like paintings, statues, and stained glass windows. That seems bad, but when his sister Mary became queen, she burned Protestants at the stake, earning her the name Bloody Mary. However, she had married Phillip II of Spain to benefit Great Britain. She loved him, and suffered from many false pregnancies, believing she was having his offspring. These were false pregnancies, and Phillip didn’t have much interest in his wife. Philip was Protestant, and Mary developed a bias, due to unrequited love, against Protestants. In fact, it was a false pregnancy that turned out to be cancer that killed her. Mary was replaced by her sister, Elizabeth. Most people assume or know Elizabeth