Book of Common Prayer (1559)
The 1559 Book of Common Prayer, also called the Elizabethan prayer book, is the third edition of the Book of Common Prayer and the text that served as an official liturgical book of the Church of England throughout the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I became Queen of England in 1558 following the death of her Catholic half-sister Mary I. After a brief period of uncertainty regarding how much the new queen would embrace the English Reformation, the 1559 prayer book was approved as part of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. The 1559 prayer book was largely derived from the 1552 Book of Common Prayer approved under Edward VI. Retaining much of Thomas Cranmer's work from the prior edition, it was used in Anglican liturgy until a minor revision in 1604 under Elizabeth's successor, James I. The 1559 pattern was again retained by the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which remains in use by the Church of England. The 1559 prayer book and its use throughout Elizabeth's 45-year reign secured the Book of Common Prayers prominence in the Church of England and is considered by many historians as embodying the Elizabethan church's drive for a via media between Protestant and Catholic impulses and