by Leah Dassler
Upon the death of Mary I, Elizabeth Tudor went from illegitimate child to heir of Henry VIII. Hers is a remarkable journey that turned her from a captive in the Tower of London to one of England’s longest-reigning monarchs. Even more remarkable is how she and parliament reformed the Anglican Church to legitimize her reign. With threats from both within and outside Britain, including the Pope, France, Scotland, and religious extremists, uniting England under one church was a crucial step for Elizabeth to solidify her claim to the throne. It is critical to note that, unlike the Edwardian reformation led by then-Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, Elizabeth’s motivation for reformation was purely political. Accordingly, “external conformity of behavior was of much greater concern to the state than religious opinion.” Therefore, Elizabeth I used her first months in office to draft a uniform religion for England that would keep her political opponents at bay.
Some of these religious and political opponents included the pope, France, Scotland, and to a minor degree, Spain. To start, papal authority posed a challenge to Elizabeth’s legitimacy as monarch.
Pope Paul IV, famous for his intolerance of heresy, started with a diplomatic means of trying to persuade the Protestant queen to marry a Catholic monarch; this way, England would continue Queen Mary I’s Catholic regime, and maintain Rome’s influence over Britain. Initially, upon hearing of Elizabeth’s succession, the pope made a list of demands that included Elizabeth’s submission of England to his divine authority; if she did not comply, Rome would continue to see her as Anne Boleyn’s illegitimate child, without claim to the throne.
In dealing with the pope’s demands, Elizabeth first sent an ambassador to Rome to buy her time—time to work with Parliament to secure a religious settlement independent of Rome’s influence. Aware that her actions of confiscating monastery money, and destroying Catholic church images would warrant her excommunication, Elizabeth showed shrewdness in her timing of diplomacy to Rome as a time-buying ploy.
Eventually, she was able to pass the Acts of Supremacy and of Uniformity in 1559 right under the pope’s nose; however, the pope held out hope that England could be re-Catholicized with a possible marriage between Elizabeth and the Holy Roman Emperor’s son, so he did not excommunicate her before his death in 1559. Because Elizabeth kept her European counterparts guessing as to her marriage, strategically sent diplomats to Rome to buy her time, and negotiated temporary peace with several threatening Catholic countries, she put the Pope in a place of inaction long enough to set her religious policy into motion.
France and Scotland
Since Mary I’s health declined, France planned to put Mary Queen of Scots on England’s throne. In her wedding to Francis II of France, Mary Stewart was effectively declared queen of England, Scotland, and France, as the then-king of France and her father-in-law, Henry II, placed the arms of all three countries under her portrait. In this way, not only would England be brought back under Catholic control, but would also belong to France. To counter this threat, Elizabeth and her advisors fortified the Scottish border against French invasion, demanded French Calais back under English control, and made outward appearances of peace with France. France, in return, sent ambassadors to Rome to urge the Pope to declare Elizabeth illegitimate and Mary Stewart legitimate queen of England through her ties to Henry VII of England.
Questioning Elizabeth’s divine right effectively declared war, but Elizabeth chose to negotiate a peace with both Catholic Scotland and France in Cateau Cambreisis, on April 3, 1559, sidestepping the Pope’s influence once again. With Sir William Cecil leading her Privy Council, and Sir Francis Walsingham in charge of her intelligence network throughout Europe, Elizabeth was able to negotiate this treaty. Through her intelligence connections in Scotland, Elizabeth knew that gaining other Pro