Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 8

Elizabeth I and the Church of England

I can describe Elizabeth's religious settlement and the threats it faced.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils
New
New
Year 8

Elizabeth I and the Church of England

I can describe Elizabeth's religious settlement and the threats it faced.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Elizabeth was known as the 'Supreme Governor of the Church of England'.
  2. Elizabeth's religious settlement, the 'Middle Way', found a middle ground between Catholic and Protestant beliefs.
  3. In 1570, Elizabeth was excommunicated giving Catholics a justification to act against her.
  4. Radical Protestants, known as Puritans, wanted more changes in the English Church.
  5. Elizabeth was able to defend her religious settlement from both Catholics and Protestants.

Common misconception

Everyone in Elizabethan England was Protestant.

Protestantism in Elizabethan England was the norm by the end of Elizabeth's reign, but England was religiously divided during her reign.

Keywords

  • Excommunicate - to excommunicate someone means to ban a person from church services and the community

  • Jesuit - the Jesuits were a Catholic group who worked in secret to convert people in England to Catholicism

  • Nicodemite - a Nicodemite is a person who pretends to follow one religion but secretly believes another

  • Puritan - a Puritan was a member of the English Protestant movement of the 16th and 17th centuries which sought to simplify and purify worship

  • Recusant - a recusant is a person who refuses to attend Church of England services

Try to emphasise that people didn't object to Mary I killing people per se, as executions by monarchs in this time period was entirely normal, but the manner of execution was what people objected to.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Video

Skip video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What does 'succession' mean?
To succeed at something, such as scoring high on a test.
To become king or queen by defeating a rival in battle.
Growth in the economy, such as many people in a country becoming richer.
Correct answer: The process of inheriting a title, such as becoming a king or queen.
Q2.
What was the name of Elizabeth's suitor who was also her childhood friend?
Correct Answer: Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Dudley, Leicester, robert dudley
Q3.
Which of Elizabeth's suitors had previously been married to her sister, Mary I?
Robert Devereux
Robert Dudley
Correct answer: Philip II
William of Orange
Q4.
Which of these was used as propaganda by Elizabeth?
poems
Correct answer: portraits
posters
public executions
Q5.
What was the normal expectation for a royal woman during Elizabeth's time period?
to rule alongside her husband, the king, as an equal
to offer advice to the king as his main advisor
to organise festivals and charity events
Correct answer: to have children and continue the family name
Q6.
Why was it considered a problem that Elizabeth never had a child?
there was no one to look after her when she got older
Correct answer: there was no obvious person to rule after her when she died
no one else wanted to be the ruler of England after she died
it meant that England would have been ruled by Spain again

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
In which year did Henry VIII break away from the Catholic Church and begin the period of religious change in England?
1434
Correct answer: 1534
1634
1734
Q2.
Why did Elizabeth I pass the Act of Uniformity in 1559?
to declare England a Catholic country
to promote religious rebellions amongst her subjects
Correct answer: to establish a Protestant state that would allow Catholics to worship in private
to completely ban the practice of Catholicism
Q3.
What was the term used for Catholics who pretended to be Protestant but still secretly practised Catholicism at home?
Correct Answer: Nicodemites, Nicodemite, Nicodemite Catholics, nicodemite, nicodemites
Q4.
Who were Elizabeth's preferred group of believers?
Puritans
Correct answer: Moderate Protestants
Nicodemite Catholics
Recusant Catholics
Jesuits
Q5.
Match the religious group to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:Puritan,extreme Protestant, wanted to remove Catholics from England

extreme Protestant, wanted to remove Catholics from England

Correct Answer:Moderate Protestant,Protestant who accepted Elizabeth's religious rules

Protestant who accepted Elizabeth's religious rules

Correct Answer:Recusant Catholic,Catholic who refused to go to Protestant church services

Catholic who refused to go to Protestant church services

Correct Answer:Jesuit,Catholic group who tried to convert people to Catholicism

Catholic group who tried to convert people to Catholicism

Q6.
How did most Catholics in England respond to the Papal Bull issued by the Pope in 1570?
rebelled against her rule in line with the Pope's command
successfully removed her from the throne
formed an alliance with foreign Catholic powers
Correct answer: ignored it and accepted Elizabeth's religious settlement

Additional material

Download additional material
We're sorry, but preview is not currently available. Download to see additional material.