Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I (1533–1603), Queen of England from 1558. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, she was placed next in the succession after Edward VI and Mary by Act of Parliament. On her accession she tried to break away from the policies that had made Mary unpopular; her own sympathies and supporters were Protestant. In the Parliament of 1559 she tried to achieve a royal supremacy and restoration of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer; she accepted supreme governorship of the C of E and a slightly amended BCP. She appointed Protestant bishops but made some attempts to conciliate Catholic opinion; she reintroduced a crucifix in her chapel and tried to insist on the use of traditional vestments. Later she attempted to limit Protestant preaching; her refusal to consider further structural changes in the Church led to tensions with leading Protestants, including her own bishops.

Although politically cautious, Elizabeth I posed as the patron of Protestants, sending military aid to Protestant rebels abroad. In 1570 she was excommunicated by Pius V. From 1583 she turned more decisively against English Catholics, partly for fear of plots and partly because the growth of popular Protestantism made conservative concessions less necessary. Persecution of recusants was vigorous in 1585–91, and in 1587 she allowed the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her image as Protestant protectress helped her to overcome suspicion of female rule and made anti-popery a powerful national ideology.