Elizabeth's Religious Settlement

Why was religion a big issue?

In 1536 Henry VIII passed the Act of Supremacy completing the English reformation and making England a Protestant country with himself as the head of the Church of England.
Under Edward VI (1547-53) England became a strictly Protestant country, his Regency Councils introduced the Book of Common Prayer.
Under Mary I (1553-58) England was returned to the Catholic Faith, the Pope was Head of the Church again and nearly 300 Protestants were executed for heresy.
When Elizabeth I became Queen she was head of a divided and scared country.

Elizabeth’s religious settlement

Elizabeth’s religious settlement of 1559 was a form of moderate Protestantism.
She called herself governor not the head of the Church.
Catholics were free to worship in their own way in private
Church services were designed to allow people of either faith to understand and participate, Churches were decorated and Bishops kept.
Matthew Parks who was a moderate Protestant was appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury (the most senior figure in the English Church)