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 Protestant pockets of support within the two countries would only be possible if she reformed England; in this way, she could rely on these Protestant supporters abroad to counter potential attacks from Scotland and France. Protestant support was Elizabeth’s strong point in convincing France and Scotland to make peace in the beginning years of her reign. Ultimately, Cecil’s genius political undermining of the Scottish monarchy would lead to peace between England and Scotland in the Treaty of Edinburgh (1960), but the initial Protestant support abroad for a Protestant queen was essential to warding off foreign threats in the first twelve months of Elizabeth’s reign.
Catholics within England and Scotland
With so many Catholic forces working abroad to end her reign, Elizabeth also had English Catholics looking to overthrow her and put the both legitimate and Catholic Queen Mary of Scots on the throne.
Toward the end of 1558, Elizabeth ordered that Catholic preaching was specifically limited to the Gospels and the Ten Commandments. Worship was restricted to the Lord’s Prayer and Creeds in the English tongue. The intent of this injunction was to stave off priest-led uprisings until her parliament could enact religious reform to unify the country.
In addition to Catholic opponents, some Protestants also challenged Elizabeth’s reform laws. While Edward VI’s reformation had been orchestrated by influences from Strasburg and Zurich, two “cities on the hill” in Christendom, Elizabeth’s reformation was much less appealing to Protestants exiled during Mary I’s reign, who returned from exile expecting the Protestant queen to make radical reforms favoring their religion. Some clergy exiled in Zurich were given major dioceses; they made demands of the Queen to not allow major theological freedom to Catholics or show a state endorsement of Lutheranism. This was mainly because the clergy, especially Richard Cox and Edmund Grindal, were in communication with Zurich leaders and hoped to form London into another city on a hill. Geneva 