Elizabethan Religious Settlement

The Elizabethan Religious Settlement was Elizabeth I?s response to the religious divisions created over the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. This response was set out in two acts of parliament. The Act of Supremacy of 1559 re-established the English church?s independence from Rome. The Act of Uniformity 1559 set out the form the English church would now take.

Related Topics:
Elizabeth I - Henry VIII - Edward VI - Mary I - Parliament - Act of Supremacy - 1559 - Act of Uniformity

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Once seen as a terminal point for the English Reformation and the foundation of a "via media Anglicanism" by scholars, leading historians now more commonly regard the "settlement" as taking place long before England had become an extensively Protestant culture on a popular level. It is now common to see the "settlement" as belying or even provoking great divisions in the population and among the clergy which cannot be reduced to a few simple categories like "conservatives," "Anglicans," and "Puritans," a traditional arrangement that anachronistically deploys modern political stereotypes of dubious value in any era--i.e., right, middle, and left.

Related Topics:
Via media - Anglicanism

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