Elizabeth I and the Church of England
I can describe Elizabeth's religious settlement and the threats it faced.
Elizabeth I and the Church of England
I can describe Elizabeth's religious settlement and the threats it faced.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Elizabeth was known as the 'Supreme Governor of the Church of England'.
- Elizabeth's religious settlement, the 'Middle Way', found a middle ground between Catholic and Protestant beliefs.
- In 1570, Elizabeth was excommunicated giving Catholics a justification to act against her.
- Radical Protestants, known as Puritans, wanted more changes in the English Church.
- Elizabeth was able to defend her religious settlement from both Catholics and Protestants.
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
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.
To help you plan your year 8 history lesson on: Elizabeth I and the Church of England, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 history lesson on: Elizabeth I and the Church of England, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the Elizabeth I: why has Elizabeth been represented so differently? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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
Lesson video
Loading...
Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
extreme Protestant, wanted to remove Catholics from England
Protestant who accepted Elizabeth's religious rules
Catholic who refused to go to Protestant church services
Catholic group who tried to convert people to Catholicism