Elizabeth's Religious Settlement

Question 1

What did the Act of Supremacy do?

Answer 1

• rejected Papal Supremacy
• reformation legislation of Henry VIII’s reign restored
• heresy law repealed
• Queen now the ‘Supreme Governor’ of the Church of England
• oath of supremacy to be taken by clergymen and church officials

Question 2

What impact did the act of supremacy have on the clergy?

Answer 2

• because of lack of records, it is impossible to estimate how many parish clergymen were deprived of their offices
• visitors empowered to administer the oath under the terms of the Act may have been reluctant to deprive too many clergy due to the difficulty of replacing them
• most important evidence, the Act Book of the Visitors in York, seems to indicate that the visitors were only really interested in the more important clergy members

Question 3

What did the Act of Uniformity do?

Answer 3

• specified the use of a single Book of Common Prayer
• a modified version of Cranmer’s 1552 version, which was strongly Protestant
• variations in the Eucharist belief were possible as the 1549 and 1552 wordings were both permitted

Question 4

What were the royal injunctions?

Answer 4

• instructions on the conduct of church services and government of the Church issued in the Queen’s name as Supreme governor
• first injunctions made clear the Protestant character and emphasised the ‘suppression of superstition’
• parish churches required to purchase an English Bible