Moreover, the Act of Uniformity was the crux of the Elizabethan Church, establishing a set form of worship. The Prayer books of Edward VI were fused into one, and were to be used in every church in the land. This Prayer Book was willingly less rigidly protestant than the second Edwardian one, since there was a deliberate choice to put things in a way allowing several interpretations of the basic rituals and to retain many details commonly associated to Catholicism. Then, the wording of the Communion was to be vague so that Protestants and Catholics could both participate, and the ornaments and vestments of the Church were to be retained as they had been before the reforms in the second-year of Edward's reign.
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However, though much was led to please the Catholic minority, the notion of Supremacy still implied the break with Rome was total. These 1559 legislations must be seen merely as a compromise, a middle-way between Roman Catholicism and Protestant Radicalism or at least as a transitory stage to more a protestant policy, that will first enable a wider range of interpretations both for the Roman Catholic minority and the Protestants to secure peace and order.
Thus, she definitely needed to eliminate religious unrest. At that time, it was widely believed that she would restore the Protestant faith in England: Mary's persecution of Protestants had done much damage to the standing of Catholicism in England, and the number of Protestants in the country was steadily increasing. However, Elizabeth lacked the fanaticism of her siblings: indeed, Edward VI favoured Protestant radicalism, and Mary I favoured conservative Catholicism, which enabled her to devise a compromise that, basically, reinstated Henrician reforms. Therefore, although Elizabeth had adhered to the Catholic faith during her half sister's reign, she had been raised a Protestant, and was committed to that faith. Elizabeth's religious views were remarkably tolerant for the age in which she lived. She believed sincerely in her own faith, but she also believed in religious toleration, and that Catholics and Protestants were both part of the same faith. "There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith" she exclaimed later in her reign, "all else is a dispute over trifles”. Throughout her reign, Elizabeth's main concern was the peace and stability of the realm, and religious persecution was only adopted when certain religious groups threatened this peace. It was unfortunate for Elizabeth that so many of her contemporaries did not share her views on toleration, and she was forced by circumstance to adopt a harsher line towards Catholics than she intended or wanted. Elizabeth's toleration of Catholics, and her refusal to make too radical changes to the Church she established in 1559, showed that she wanted a Church that would appeal to both Catholics and Protestants, and did not want to move the Church in a more Protestant direction, thus making it more difficult for Catholics to accept the Church than it was already. The form of worship also suited the Queen's conservative religion. She had little sympathy with Protestant extremists who wanted to strip the Church of it's finery, ban choral music, vestments and bell-ringing, and liked her Church just the way it was. She also hoped that by retaining the Church as it was, people would become accustomed to it. She wanted her Church to be popular with her people, and for Catholicism to die out naturally as people turned to the religion she had established. In this, she was largely successful, for by 1603, the English nation as a population were generally Protestant, and Catholics were in the minority.
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However, she was, compelled to take a stronger Protestant stance for two reasons: the machinations of Mary Queen of Scots and persecution of continental Protestants by the two strongholds of Orthodox Catholicism, Spain and France.
Indeed, Elisabeth’s position as monarch was to be constantly under threat for the remainder of the 16th Century; Mary the Catholic Scottish Queen and the closest living relative to Elisabeth was a particular source of danger. Thus, in Elizabeth's custody beginning in 1568, Mary gained the loyalty of Catholic factions and aligned herself with King Philip of Spain – one of the most powerful rulers in Renaissance Europe – and instituted several failed assassinations and overthrow plots against her cousin, Elizabeth. Thus, although she returned the Church of England to power, she showed tolerance toward Catholics at first. Despite Catholic conspiracies to overthrow her and place Mary Stuart on the English throne, Elizabeth hesitated to execute her fellow queen. Mary became first, Elizabeth's prisoner in 1568, but it was not until 1587 that Elizabeth, confronted with irrefutable evidence of Mary's involvement in the Babington Plot to assassinate the Queen, sadly succumbed to the pressure from her advisors and had the Scottish princess executed in 1587 signing her death warrant. By this time Elizabeth had become more brutal in suppressing Catholics, although she continued to believe, in her words, "There is only one Christ Jesus and one faith; the rest is a dispute about trifles."
Moreover, The persecution of continental Protestants forced Elizabeth into war, a situation that she desperately tried to avoid. She sent an army to aid French Huguenots (Calvinists who had settled in France) after a 1572 massacre wherein over three thousand Huguenots lost their lives. She sent further assistance to Protestant factions on the continent and in Scotland following the emergence of radical Catholic groups and assisted Belgium in their bid to gain independence from Spain. The situation came to head after Elizabeth rejected a marriage proposal from Philip II of Spain; the indignant Spanish King, incensed by English piracy and forays in New World exploration, sent his much-feared Armada to raid England. However, the English won the naval battle handily, due as much to bad weather as to English naval prowess. England emerged as the world's strongest naval power, helped by God, setting the stage for later English imperial designs. Thus, tolerance did not turn out to be the best solution available and the result of the slow persecution of Catholics is not a genuine will from Elisabeth, but more the consequence of intolerance.
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Thus, Elizabeth Tudor, or “Good Queen Bess” as she was called in the unfolding of her long reign, is considered by many to be the greatest Monarch in English history. When she became Queen in 1558, she was twenty-five years old, a survivor of scandal and danger, and considered illegitimate by most Europeans. She inherited a bankrupt nation, torn by religious discord, a weakened pawn between the great powers of France and Spain. She was only the third queen to rule England in her own right, and used powerfully her single state to her diplomatic advantage – the other two examples being disastrous, her cousin Lady Jane Grey and half-sister Mary I –. Elizabeth's reign was during one of the more constructive periods in English history. She ruled alone for nearly half a century, lending her name to a glorious epoch in world history, and dazzled even her greatest enemy. Above all, she managed to solve the religious equation of the Kingdom, though so deeply rooted in the British culture, and gave birth to a stable and ordered religious settlement known as the “Elizabethan Settlement” thanks to her various legislation. The Anglican Church, this subtle middle-way between Radical Protestanticism and Roman Catholicism was born in this powerful nation: this essential birth in English History, is definitely linked to Elisabeth will to remain on the English Throne and protect her Queen status, and to break up definitely with Roman Allegiance.
Few English monarchs enjoyed such political power, while still maintaining the devotion of the whole of English Elizabeth, the last of the Tudors, died at seventy years of age after a very successful forty-four year reign.
