Puritan and Catholic Challenges

The religious settlement of 1559 was designed to hold the middle ground. But the middle ground was attacked from both sides for the next three decades. Puritans wanted the Church reformed further; Catholics wanted the settlement undone. This lesson covers the main challenges and how Elizabeth responded.

Paper 2 frequently asks about the extent of the threat. You need to distinguish between challenges that were serious (organised, politically dangerous) and those that were persistent but manageable (grumbling conformity).

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Puritans — the challenge from the Protestant side

Puritans were Protestants who thought the 1559 settlement had not gone far enough. They agreed with its doctrine but disliked its Catholic-looking practices. They did not form a single organised group — the word "Puritan" covered a spectrum.

Puritan demands in the 1560s–80s

Puritan demand	What they objected to
Plainer services	Crucifixes, candles, wafer bread, kneeling at communion
Simpler vestments	The surplice — a plain white robe — was still "too Catholic"
More preaching	Many parish clergy preferred reading homilies to preaching
Presbyterian government	Replacing bishops with elected presbyteries, as in Geneva
Local discipline	Stricter rules on sabbath observance, drunkenness, moral conduct

Puritans were influential in Parliament and at court (Dudley, Walsingham and Sir Francis Knollys all sympathised) but they were not numerous among ordinary parishioners.

The Vestiarian Controversy, 1566

Archbishop Matthew Parker tried to enforce uniform dress among the clergy. Around 37 London clergy refused to wear the surplice and were suspended. This was the first open Puritan defiance of the settlement.

Prophesyings and Archbishop Grindal

In the 1570s, Puritans organised prophesyings — meetings in which clergy studied scripture together and discussed interpretation, often in front of lay audiences. Elizabeth saw this as a challenge to her authority over doctrine and ordered Archbishop Edmund Grindal to suppress them.

Grindal refused. In 1577 Elizabeth suspended him from most of his archiepiscopal duties. Prophesyings were suppressed by royal order. Grindal remained under suspension until his death in 1583.

Presbyterian Puritans

A more radical strand, led by thinkers such as Thomas Cartwright, argued for replacing bishops with presbyteries entirely. John Field and Thomas Wilcox's An Admonition to the Parliament (1572) attacked the Prayer Book and the episcopal structure directly. Both men were imprisoned.

By the 1580s the Classical Movement — an underground network of Presbyterian-style meetings — was active in parts of England, but was broken up by Archbishop John Whitgift's 1583 articles requiring every clergyman to subscribe to the Prayer Book and royal supremacy.

How serious was the Puritan challenge?

• Puritans did not rebel. They did not raise armies. They did not plot to kill the Queen.
• But they did challenge her authority over the Church, and their influence at court made them impossible to suppress entirely.
• By 1588 the Puritan challenge had been contained — but not eliminated.

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Catholics — the challenge from the traditional side

Catholic opposition changed dramatically in 1570. Before that date it was quiet; after that date it became dangerous.

1559–68: quiet conformity

In the first decade, most English Catholics practised church papistry — attending Anglican services to avoid the fine, while keeping their faith privately. Elizabeth did not prosecute them vigorously. She famously said she did not wish to "make windows into men's souls."

1570: the Papal Bull Regnans in Excelsis

In February 1570, Pope Pius V issued the bull Regnans in Excelsis. It:

• Excommunicated Elizabeth
• Declared her a heretic and a pretended queen
• Absolved her subjects of their allegiance to her
• Implied that Catholics had a religious duty to depose her

This changed everything. From 1570, Catholic loyalty to Elizabeth was — in the Pope's view — incompatible with being Catholic.

flowchart TD
    A[1559 Religious Settlement] --> B[1559-1568: church papistry]
    B --> C[1568: Mary Queen of Scots arrives]
    C --> D[1569: Northern Rebellion]
    D --> E[1570: Papal Bull]
    E --> F[1571 Treasons Act]
    E --> G[Jesuit mission from 1580]
    F --> H[1581 Recusancy Act: £20 fine]
    G --> H
    H --> I[1585 Act against Jesuits]

    style A fill:#3498db,color:#fff
    style E fill:#c0392b,color:#fff
    style H fill:#c0392b,color:#fff
    style I fill:#c0392b,color:#fff

Recusancy laws

Recusants were Catholics who refused to attend Church of England services. The fines grew harsher as the perceived threat grew: