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5 | <meta name="content" content="Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Portraits with commentary, Primary Sources Elizabeth Tudor 1533 to 1603 The Virgin Queen Gloriana">
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11 | <title>Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</title>
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18 | <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="667">
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20 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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21 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="29"><p align="center"> </td>
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23 | </tr>
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24 | <tr>
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25 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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26 | <td width="50%" height="3">
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27 | <p align="center">
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28 | <IMG height=98 alt="Queen Elizabeth I"
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29 | src="eliz1-queenuse.gif" width=422></td>
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30 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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31 | </tr>
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32 | <tr>
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33 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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34 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
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35 | <p align="center">
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36 | <IMG height=476
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37 | alt="'The Sieve Portrait' of Elizabeth I by Quentin Metsys"
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38 | src="eliz1-metsys.jpg" width=350 border=2><blockquote>
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39 | <p align="left">
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40 | </blockquote>
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41 | <DIV align=left>Visit
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42 | <a href="http://www.marileecody.com/eliz1-images.html">Elizabethan
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43 | Images</a> to view portraits of the queen and her courtiers, with
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44 | commentary.<BR>Read poems, letters, and speeches by the queen at <A
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45 | href="../primary.html">Primary
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46 | Sources</A>.</DIV>
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47 | <DIV align=left> </DIV>
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48 | <DIV align=left>Read ES Beesly's 1892 biography of Queen
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49 | Elizabeth I at <a href="../secondary.html">
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50 | Secondary Sources</a>.<BR><BR>Visit <A
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51 | href="boleyn.html">the Anne
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52 | Boleyn website</A> to learn more about Elizabeth's mother.<BR>Visit <A
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53 | href="../relative/maryqos.html">the Mary,
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54 | queen of Scots website</A> to learn more about Elizabeth's
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55 | cousin.<BR><BR>Test your knowledge of Elizabeth's life and times at <A
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56 | href="../tudor1.html">Tudor
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57 | Quizzes</A>.</DIV>
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58 | <DIV align=left> </DIV>
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59 | <DIV align=left>Meet other Elizabethan enthusiasts at
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60 | <a href="http://www.alassea.net/fl/elizabeth/">The Virgin Queen
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61 | fanlisting</a>.</DIV>
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62 | <DIV align=left> </DIV>
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63 | </td>
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64 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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65 | </tr>
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66 | </table>
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67 |
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68 | <blockquote>
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69 | <blockquote>
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70 | <blockquote>
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71 | <hr>
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72 | </blockquote>
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73 | </blockquote>
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74 | <p><font size="4">'And to me it shall be a full satisfaction, both for the memorial of my
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75 | Name, and for my Glory also, if when I shall let my last breath, it be
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76 | ingraven upon my Marble Tomb, Here lieth Elizabeth, which Reigned a
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77 | Virgin, and died a Virgin.' </font><I><FONT size=-1>Elizabeth I to
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78 | Parliament, 1559 </FONT></I><font size="2"> </font></p>
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79 | <blockquote>
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80 | <blockquote>
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81 | <hr>
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82 |
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83 | <P>Elizabeth was content to ignore potential suitors; she considered
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84 | religion to be the most pressing and divisive issue in England.
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85 | Having lived through years of spiritual upheaval, she well understood her
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86 | subjects' need for peace. But it would not be easy to find. </P>
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87 | <P>Both Protestants and Catholics had suffered throughout the reigns of
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88 | Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I. Henry's religious policies had
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89 | been muddled and disarming; no one, even the king, knew the definition of
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90 | heresy. Or rather, they knew heresy was whatever the king commanded,
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91 | and that changed from year to year. Edward had been a devout
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92 | Protestant, as had his councilors. The six years of his rule
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93 | witnessed its political and social triumph, primarily through southern
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94 | England. The independent north remained conservative and
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95 | Catholic. Mary had been an equally devout Catholic, imbued with
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96 | genuine religious fervor. She brought papal privilege back to
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97 | England after a twenty-year absence. And now Elizabeth came to the
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98 | throne, having been Protestant and Catholic, for she had tacked to the
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99 | treacherous winds of her siblings' courts. </P>
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100 | <P>Each faith harbored grievances against the other. Her Protestant
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101 | councilors increasingly felt that Catholics were political traitors, as if
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102 | their very faith implied a lack of patriotism. They warned Elizabeth
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103 | that the pope commanded her Catholic subjects, not she; only a swift and
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104 | strong blow could ensure their fear and forced loyalty. But for the
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105 | queen, her Catholic subjects were also, quite simply, subjects. If
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106 | they recognized her rule, she had no qualms about their private
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107 | worship. Let them go publicly to Protestant services and then do as
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108 | they wished at home. So long as they did not rebel, she was content
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109 | not to pry. </P>
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110 | <P>This generosity, echoed in Mary Stuart's behavior in Scotland, was
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111 | considered a weakness by many. And many Catholics did not trust the
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112 | queen's promises. </P>
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113 | <P>Elizabeth's first parliament met from January to April 1559. The
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114 | new queen did not bother to revoke her illegitimacy, as Mary had.
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115 | This was indicative of Elizabeth's self-confidence and her ability to let
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116 | the past go. She even welcomed her former jailer Bedingfield to
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117 | court, though with a caustic wit. </P>
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118 | <P>Religious turmoil was soon the subject of impassioned debate. The
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119 | royal supremacy - the royal title of Supreme Head of the Church of England
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120 | - was reinstated, though altered to 'Supreme Governor'. In the House
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121 | of Lords, many bishops resisted the changes but they were quickly replaced
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122 | by others, led by Matthew Parker as archbishop of Canterbury.
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123 | Elizabeth pressed for a restoration of the 1549 Prayer Book, which she
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124 | felt would be acceptable to Protestants and most complacent
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125 | Catholics. But the new bishops preferred the 1552 Prayer Book; it
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126 | was rather vague about most controversial maters and thus less offensive
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127 | to Catholics. Elizabeth assented and the Act of Uniformity was
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128 | passed. She was particularly successful in making religious
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129 | dissension a political matter, rather than a troublesome question of
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130 | doctrine. In the Oath of Supremacy, in which her authority as
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131 | Supreme Governor was recognized, the queen's powers were explicitly
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132 | outlined. It was a simple matter to remove Marian stalwarts from
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133 | positions of authority, and about 300 clergy were dismissed. In
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134 | total, one third of parish clergy were replaced. </P>
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135 | <P>Most Englishmen were content with this settlement, though extremists on
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136 | both sides felt it inadequate. Elizabeth effectively placed the
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137 | church under control of the crown, thus merging religious and political
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138 | power in her person.</P>
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139 | <hr>
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140 | </blockquote>
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141 | </blockquote>
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142 | <p><font size="4">'From the very beginning of her reign she has treated all
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143 | religious questions with so much caution and incredible prudence that she
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144 | seems both to protect the Catholic religion and at the same time not
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145 | entirely to condemn or outwardly reject the new Reformation.... <BR>In my
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146 | opinion, a very prudent action, intended to keep the adherents of both
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147 | creeds in subjection, for the less she ruffles them at the beginning of
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148 | her reign the more easily she will enthrall them later on.' </font> <I><FONT
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149 | size=-1>the Imperial envoy Count con Helffstein, March 1559</FONT></I></p>
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150 | <blockquote>
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151 | <blockquote>
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152 | <hr>
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153 | <P>This balance was maintained successfully through most of her
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154 | reign. However, in later years, two great problems emerged.
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155 | The first was the growing popularity of the Puritan movement. This
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156 | extreme form of Protestantism was a direct attack upon the royal
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157 | supremacy. In England, the Puritans were directly influenced by
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158 | continental Presbyterians. They believed passionately in one rule
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159 | only, that of Holy Scripture. They also believed in a fellowship of
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160 | ministers; parishes would elect their own religious leaders, under the
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161 | supervision of a group of elders. In other words, the parishes would
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162 | usurp the power of the queen. </P>
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163 | <P>For the Puritans, it became distressingly clear that the Church of
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164 | England was more dedicated to England and its ruler than to God.
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165 | </P>
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166 | <P>Elizabeth's government was able to keep the Puritan movement
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167 | underground. John Whitgift, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in
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168 | 1583, attempted to neutralize their cause by adopting some needed
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169 | reforms. But he did not wish to create Puritan martyrs, as Mary I
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170 | had created Protestant ones. He was also more interested in
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171 | establishing a uniform clergy rather than debating doctrine. A few
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172 | Puritans were executed and many others banished under Whitgift; his use of
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173 | the church courts robbed the new doctrine of its momentum. It
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174 | remained troublesome to the queen, but never a real threat.
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175 | Elizabeth's rule was preferable to any other; she had become, however
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176 | unwillingly, the champion of the Protestant cause. Puritan attempts
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177 | to check the royal prerogative would only succeed in the next generation.
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178 | </P>
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179 | <P>The Catholics, however, became a genuine threat to the queen's very
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180 | life. While the Puritans used words against the queen, the Catholic
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181 | extremists were eventually prepared to kill her. </P>
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182 | <P>The first decade of Elizabeth's reign found the Catholics relatively
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183 | quiet and content. They were settled mainly in the north and west of
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184 | England, and accepted the 1559 religious settlement. They believed
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185 | Elizabeth to be illegitimate and thus ineligible to be queen, but neither
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186 | Pope Paul IV or his successor, Pius IV, seriously challenged her
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187 | title. She was not even excommunicated until 1570. The two
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188 | greatest European powers, Spain (the Hapsburg Empire) and France, were
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189 | cautious but friendly. England had long been a balance between their
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190 | competing interests. And as mentioned earlier, Philip II of Spain
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191 | had even sought to marry Elizabeth. For her part, the queen took
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192 | care not to disturb calm waters. </P>
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193 | <P>But calm can be deceptive and misleading. In 1568, ten years into
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194 | her reign, Elizabeth was forced to abandon her studied disinterest and
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195 | choose sides.</P>
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196 | <P>Europe was caught in bloody religious turmoil. There was a
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197 | Protestant rebellion in the Netherlands and Philip
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198 | <IMG height=216
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199 | alt="Elizabeth I's troublesome cousin, Mary queen of Scots, c1565"
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200 | src="eliz3-maryqos1.jpg" width=160 border=2 align="left">II sent the duke of
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201 | Alva to crush it. There was now a massive military power directly
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202 | across the Channel from England. Elizabeth's council could only
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203 | wonder - once Alva's force completed its bloody business there, would he
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204 | then look to England? And that same year, <A
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205 | href="http://englishhistory.ne/tudor/relative/maryqos.html">Mary
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206 | Stuart</A> fled her disastrous reign in Scotland to seek Elizabeth's
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207 | help. She needed an army to recover her throne from Protestant
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208 | rebels who had forced her abdication and imprisoned her. Elizabeth
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209 | and her councilors were aghast. Mary was the true queen of England
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210 | in the eyes of Catholic Europe, as well as some Catholic Englishmen.
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211 | And she was now in England, on her way to becoming the greatest quandary
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212 | of Elizabeth's reign. Just as Elizabeth had been the inevitable
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213 | focus of conspiracies and plots against Mary I's rule, Mary queen of Scots
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214 | would be the focus of discontent against Elizabeth. And if Elizabeth
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215 | should die, naturally or otherwise, Mary had the strongest claim to the
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216 | English throne. All of the Protestant councilors were terrified;
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217 | what should they do with Mary Stuart? </P>
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218 | <P>Also, a Catholic missionary college was founded at Douai in Flanders by
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219 | the Englishman William Allen. He planned to take a proactive role in
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220 | reasserting his faith in England, and he attracted many dedicated
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221 | followers. Douai was soon a flourishing center for anti-Elizabethan
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222 | plots and propaganda. </P>
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223 | <P>For the queen, her cherished and precarious balance, successfully
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224 | maintained for a decade, was falling to pieces. She took the
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225 | precaution of imprisoning Mary queen of Scots in a variety of secure
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226 | castles. At first, this 'imprisonment' was little more than an
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227 | inconvenience since Mary wished to return home. She sincerely
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228 | believed Elizabeth would help her, as a fellow queen and cousin. She
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229 | never recognized the political danger she brought to bear upon her 'sweet
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230 | sister'. Elizabeth was told by the Protestant lords in Scotland that
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231 | Mary was unwelcome; she faced certain death if she returned. Her
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232 | infant son (whose birth caused Elizabeth to exclaim, 'Alack, the Queen of
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233 | Scots is lighter of a bonny son, and I am but of barren stock!') was now king. The
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234 | Scots also plied Elizabeth's council with
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235 | evidence of Mary's complicity in her second husband's murder. Would
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236 | the queen of England lend her support to such a woman? It was indeed
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237 | a vexing problem. Elizabeth settled upon appointing a commission to
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238 | investigate the charges against Mary. </P>
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239 | <P>And soon enough, she had even more pressing concerns.</P>
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240 | <hr>
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241 | </blockquote>
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242 | </blockquote>
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243 | <p align="center"><font size="4">'The common people are ignorant, superstitious, and altogether blinded
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244 | with the old popish doctrine.' <BR></font><I><FONT size=-1>Sir Ralph Sadler to
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245 | Sir William Cecil, 1569</FONT></I></p>
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246 | <blockquote>
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247 | <blockquote>
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248 | <hr>
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249 | <P>The conservative north had never been friendly to the Tudor
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250 | dynasty. The last Plantagenet king, Richard III, had been their
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251 | lord; they led rebellions against his killer and successor, Henry
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252 | VII. The first Tudor king succeeded in establishing nominal
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253 | authority over the fractious northern earls. His son, Henry VIII,
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254 | was equally troubled. His Reformation led to the great northern
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255 | rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536. Henry dealt
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256 | brutally with the rebels and made only one northern progress
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257 | afterwards, taking his fifth queen, Catherine Howard, to York soon
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258 | after their marriage. Edward VI's Protestant council was also troubled by the
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259 | north while the Catholic Mary I gained her greatest support there. She rode north
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260 | after Dudley seized control of London and had Lady Jane Grey crowned
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261 | queen. Elizabeth had long recognized its intransigence. She
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262 | was never particularly close to the great northern lords of her reign, the
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263 | earls of Northumberland and Westmorland, and the only duke in England, her
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264 | Howard cousin Thomas, 4th duke of Norfolk. She showed Norfolk some
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265 | degree of personal affection, as she did all of her maternal
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266 | relatives. But she recognized his ambition and their religious
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267 | differences. As a duke, he was one of the wealthiest men in England
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268 | and thus had great influence. Yet he was never a close advisor to
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269 | the queen. </P>
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270 | <P>The arrival of Mary Stuart was the great topic at Elizabeth's court in
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271 | 1569. What would the queen do? Some of her councilors,
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272 | including Dudley and Throckmorton, thought Mary should wed the premier
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273 | peer in England. This was, of course, the queen's cousin
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274 | Norfolk. Cecil was vehemently opposed; he disliked Norfolk and his
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275 | opposition only strengthened Dudley's support. Two problems could
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276 | possibly be solved by the marriage - Mary Stuart would be safely settled
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277 | in England and the succession would be assured. Elizabeth recognized
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278 | this short-sighted solution for the mirage it was, for how long would she
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279 | live after the marriage? Her realm would be bitterly divided and
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280 | torn, with rival factions centered upon herself and Norfolk. As
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281 | future king of England, he might dare to rebel against her. And what
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282 | support would she gain, a 'Virgin Queen' with only her subjects' love to
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283 | sustain her? And despite her pragmatism, Elizabeth was Protestant
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284 | and the Norfolk marriage would be a Catholic triumph. </P>
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285 | <P>The queen soon let both Dudley and Norfolk know of her
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286 | displeasure. Dudley was roundly chastised and Norfolk left court for
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287 | his country estate Kenninghall. He refused a summons to appear
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288 | before Elizabeth at Windsor Castle. Her anger was further
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289 | roused. There were whispers of a rebellion, that Norfolk and
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290 | his supporters would free Mary and march on London. The northern
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291 | earls were less keen on the marriage; as Northumberland put it, he did not
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292 | plan 'to hazard myself for the marriage.' He and Westmorland and
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293 | Lord Dacre had local grievances against the queen, mainly religious but
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294 | also including the erosion of their local authority. As hereditary
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295 | nobles, they felt pushed aside at court and not given the proper respect.
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296 | This had been a common aristocratic complaint during her father's reign as
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297 | well.</P>
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298 | <P>But they had also heard stories of Mary Stuart's behavior in Scotland
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299 | and distrusted her character. It is also not certain they wished for
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300 | Norfolk to be king. Their primary purpose was to undo the 1559 Act
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301 | of Uniformity and crush the 'new found religion and heresy.' As
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302 | their proclamation asserted: </P>
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303 | <BLOCKQUOTE>
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304 | <p>Thomas, Earl of Northumberland, and Charles, Earl of
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305 | Westmorland, the queen's most true and lawful subjects and to all her
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306 | highness's people sendeth greeting: Whereas divers new set up
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307 | nobles about the Queen's Majesty have and do daily, not only go about to
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308 | overthrow and put down the ancient nobility of this realm but have also
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309 | misused the Queen's own person and have also by the space of twelve
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310 | years now past set up and maintained a new found religion and heresy
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311 | contrary to God's word. For the amending and redressing thereof
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312 | divers foreign powers do purpose shortly to invade this realm which will
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313 | be to our utter destruction if we do not speedily forfend the same
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314 | .....we will and require each and every of you as your duty to God for
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315 | the setting forth of his true and Catholic religion ....come and resort
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316 | unto us with all speed with all the armour and furniture as you or any
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317 | of you have.</p>
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318 | </BLOCKQUOTE>
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319 | <p>And throughout the north, they found ready
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320 | adherents for their cause. The rebellion made clear to Elizabeth
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321 | that a quiet decade had not eased religious change upon all her
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322 | subjects. The Catholic appeal was so strong that the earl of Sussex,
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323 | sent to crush the rebellion, did not fully trust his own forces. </p>
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324 | <P>It began in 1569, but the queen was fortunate in her enemies.
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325 | Norfolk was indecisive; should he risk his grand title and privileges for
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326 | the possibility of<IMG height=345 alt="portrait of Elizabeth I"
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327 | src="elizfan.jpg" width=300 border=2 align="right"> becoming king? While he hesitated, the earl of
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328 | Sussex led his troops on a steady course north. The rebels
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329 | themselves were often conflicted in their duties to the queen and their
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330 | church. When faced with the queen's army, they returned home.
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331 | The noble leaders escaped abroad or bought their freedom by giving their
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332 | property to the crown. </P>
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333 | <P>The Northern Rebellion was a frightening experience, but it ended
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334 | satisfactorily enough. It was clear, however, that northern England
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335 | must be more carefully watched and controlled. And as a result of
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336 | the rebellion, <I>Regnans in excelsis</I> was issued by the papacy in
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337 | March 1570. This was the official excommunication of Queen Elizabeth
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338 | I; she was formally deposed and her Catholic subjects absolved of all
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339 | loyalty and obedience to her office. The Catholic powers of Europe
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340 | were also ordered to act against the unlawful queen. She was a
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341 | heretic and enemy of the true faith. This moment had been long
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342 | expected in England. And it brought fresh impetus to the Protestant
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343 | councilors to protect Elizabeth's life. </P>
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344 | <P>A papal bull could be a powerful document. It could be used by
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345 | any Catholic prince, though Elizabeth's mind turned immediately to her
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346 | former brother-in-law Philip II, to justify an invasion. In 1571,
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347 | parliament took action. It was now treason to declare Elizabeth a
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348 | heretic or impugn her claim to the throne. The fines for recusants,
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349 | those who did not attend Protestant church services, were increased
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350 | dramatically, from a shilling a week to 20 pds a month. Many noble
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351 | Catholic families would not compromise their faith and paid the fines;
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352 | they were driven into poverty. In later years, it would become
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353 | treason to convert to Catholicism and all Catholic priests were ordered to
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354 | leave England. This happened only after Catholic plots against
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355 | Elizabeth's life had been discovered. Many of these plots were led
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356 | by agents from Douai, dozens of whom had secretly returned to
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357 | England. </P>
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358 | <P>Elizabeth had reason to hope these measures would be successful.
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359 | Mary Stuart's son was growing up safely Protestant in Scotland and
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360 | Elizabeth was friendly with his ministers. English Catholics were
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361 | deprived of priests, unable to attend universities, and support from
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362 | European allies was slowly being cut off. This support was
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363 | particularly troubling; the first Catholic martyr of her reign, Cuthbert
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364 | Mayne, was executed in 1577, but only because he had committed political
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365 | treason. There was no need to make martyrs, the council thought, and
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366 | it should be remembered that the Catholic problem coincided with the rise
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367 | in Puritanism. Elizabeth often wondered aloud at her subjects'
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368 | ingratitude. She had kept them safe and secure at home, thought only
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369 | of their welfare, and yet it seemed plots against her abounded. </P>
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370 | <P>Perhaps the most confused subjects were those Catholics loyal to the
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371 | queen but now deemed traitors because of their faith. They were
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372 | condemned to political limbo because of extremist actions. </P>
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373 | <P>The insularity of Elizabeth's reign was thus broken in 1568, and she
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374 | was forced into continental affairs. This was not of her
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375 | choosing. But the papal bull could not be ignored, nor the brutal
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376 | actions of Alva in the Netherlands. Perhaps she didn't seek the
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377 | role, or relish it, but Elizabeth was regarded as the champion of
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378 | Protestantism in Europe. </P>
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379 | <P>At first, Spanish hostility was tempered by Philip's conflict with
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380 | France. He wanted Elizabeth's support and she encouraged him by
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381 | considering a possible marriage. Of course, she had no intention of
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382 | accepting his proposal but it was a useful diplomatic tool. But then
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383 | Alva's 50,000 troops arrived in the Netherlands, and began to
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384 | systematically attack its Protestant population. They in turn sought
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385 | Elizabeth's aid. Also, the Huguenots (French Protestants) were under
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386 | attack, most famously in the gruesome St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of
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387 | 1572. </P>
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388 | <P>Cecil urged support; after all, where would Alva's army go once it finished
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389 | with the Netherlands? They would have a secure base for either destroying
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390 | English trade or invasion. Dudley and Norfolk (tentatively pardoned
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391 | by the queen after he promised to never contact Mary Stuart) urged
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392 | caution. The queen must abandon the Dutch and the Huguenots, or she
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393 | faced wars with France and Spain. She would save her precious
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394 | treasury as well; Elizabeth had inherited an empty treasury and hence
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395 | loathed to part with money. </P>
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396 | <P>She prevaricated as much as possible. She allowed English ships
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397 | under Drake and Hawkins to harass and seize Spanish ships returning from
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398 | the New World; she did not officially approve of their actions but she
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399 | gladly accepted stolen Spanish bullion. She sent small contingents
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400 | of troops to the Netherlands, though the situation deteriorated steadily
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401 | over the next several years. Philip retaliated by supporting
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402 | insurrection in Ireland. </P>
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403 | <P>This conflict with Spain and the problem of Mary queen of Scots
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404 | continued to vex Elizabeth for many years.</P>
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405 | <P align="center"> </P>
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406 | <P align="center"><B><A
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407 | href="eliz4.html">CONTINUE
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408 | READING</A></B> <BR> </P>
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409 | <P align="center"><FONT size=-1><A
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410 | href="../monarchs.html">to Tudor
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411 | Monarchs</A><BR><A
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412 | href="eliz2.html">back to Queen
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413 | Elizabeth I, part two</A></FONT></P>
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414 | </blockquote>
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415 | </blockquote>
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416 | </blockquote>
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417 |
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418 | </body>
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419 |
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