The Elizabethan Religious Settlement

When Elizabeth I came to the throne on 17 November 1558, England's religious identity was deeply uncertain. In the space of just eleven years, the country had swung from the conservative Protestantism of Henry VIII's final years, to the radical Protestantism of Edward VI, to the restored Catholicism of Mary I. Elizabeth's response — the Religious Settlement of 1559 — was one of the most significant and enduring achievements of the Tudor period. It established a Church of England that was Protestant in doctrine but retained many Catholic elements in practice, creating a "middle way" (via media) that would define English religion for centuries.

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The Settlement of 1559

The core of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement consisted of two Acts of Parliament and a set of Royal Injunctions.

Act of Supremacy 1559