Despite the presence of the Puritans, they did have one great weakness that was not evident with the Catholics; they were not united. There were many groups, and each one had a different agenda, although they were all aiming in the same direction. There were some very radical groups such as the Presbyterians, and although some other Puritans did band together in small close knit groups like the Genevan Brotherhood, they were not enough to greatly influence Elizabeth. They merely stood out as pressure groups campaigning for change to the Settlement.
In 1571/72 Elizabeth came under attack by various Puritans who were attempting to change what she had created, her ‘church’. William Strickland introduced a Bill to reform the Book of Common Prayer and abolish Surplice, and as a result he gained much support. However the Bill was defeated by Elizabeth herself and she then had Strickland put in the tower for infringing on the royal prerogative. The scandal also exposed John Field as a link between ‘godly’ congregation and Puritan MP’s in the Commons under the patronage of the Earl of Leicester. Elizabeth went on to use her veto a total of 66 times throughout her reign, and it was probably this power that helped her maintain control in the Commons. It can also be deduced, that although the 39 Articles were given statutory recognition and this gave Parliament a new foothold in religious affairs, as a result of Elizabeth’s actions regarding the Bill Parliament would no longer be the platform for Puritan reform as was originally hoped.
A key group that probably posed the greatest threat amongst the Puritan’s were the Presbyterians, they were very radical in their beliefs and were determined to spread their views just about anywhere they could. They first came about when Puritans began to question the office of bishops, because they blamed them for the thwarting of their cause. The main culprits of this group were known as the English ‘prophets’ of Presbyterianism and they included people such as Cartwright, Field, Wilcox and Travers. Cartwright was particularly dangerous to Elizabeth’s church as he was lecturing at Cambridge. This meant he would be able to pass on his views on through his lectures and inevitably influence the upcoming thinkers and gentry of England, as nobles and wealthy people would have attended. By doing this Cartwright was planting a seed that could threaten Elizabeth’s future. Following in 1572, radical admonitions were instated, but they received meagre support, largely because they were politically mistimed. Following the revolt of the Northern Earls in 1569 and excommunication from the pope, the Puritans needed to unite together but instead by pushing for Presbyterianism they would not unite, as it was too radical. What then proceeded was a direct assault on Elizabeth in the form of pamphlets, a pamphlet warfare began between the Elizabethan Church and those for Presbyterianism. For a time the Elizabethan Church was on the defensive as it was the Presbyterians posing the threat. The situation infuriated Elizabeth, moreover because those who were against her were now trying to convert others and it was situations like this that had the potential for civil unrest had they gained much momentum. One of the reasons I believe Puritanism was so appealing and popular was because of its patriotic allure, simple because it opposed the papacy and Roman Catholicism.
Upon Elizabeth’s accent to the English throne, she inadvertently brought back Puritans from exile. They saw her as their saviour, and they saw the time as an opportunity to reconstruct the Protestant church and the hope of once again converting the mass of Catholics. They too acted as a pressure group, especially as they viewed Elizabeth’s changes as reminiscent of the Catholic mass and not the Prayer Book.
It is difficult to assess just how widespread and strong the Puritan movement was; we do not know for certain that the lay patronage played a part in protecting Presbyterian, but we know that they were anti Whitgift as opposed to pro Presbyterian, and there was also large scale anti Whitgift action in both parliaments.
Catholics in England posed a greater force to be reckoned with, not to mention historians estimates that 50-70% of the population was still Catholic. The Catholic Church was a huge centralised organisation with the support of many powerful European countries at the time. Many Catholics had fled in exile from England, but a number remained and ‘outwardly’ conformed to the church to avoid fines but only as ostensible members.
The threat and action on the part of the Catholics was quite different to that of the Puritans. As the England was not immediately protestantised in its clergy, many of the objects such as alters and other furnishings were kept, partly to avoid further expenditure if the next ruler decided to change religions back. This itself shows that clergy were not expecting Elizabeth’s settlement to last, and the fact that they kept Catholic furnishings meant that they could still practice Catholicism behind closed doors, because they still had all the elements of their church. Catholics were treated very differently that the Puritans were, Elizabeth knew that a large population was Catholic, and it had in some respects always been that way, so she undertook a lenient policy towards them that would hopefully allow them to adjust to what she wanted; and it seemed to have worked because it is fairly clear that by 1570 many Catholics had in fact become loyal members of the Anglican Church. Even the Pope took a soft line for the first five years, as he believed Elizabeth could be won back. The Catholics did not seem to be resisting as the Puritans were, the Puritans seemed to be kicking and fighting and trying vigorously to resist and be difficult in anyway possible, but the Catholics went along with it, they were more cunning in that they had experienced religious change such as this before and knew that it would probably change again, and they had had practice in hiding and having private Catholic mass because of previous religious change, so in a way they knew what to do and just agreed, and went along wit it.
In the 1570’s we start seeing some viable opposition from the Catholics, with support from other countries. A papal Bull of Excommunication against Elizabeth deposing her and ordering her people not to listen to her, but the majority of English Catholics ignored it. We either see big open and major opposition, or none at all. They Catholics may have been being friendly in order to lull Elizabeth into a false sense of security, because in the 1570’s there is the Rising of the Northern Earls, the Papal Bull which attempt to completely remove Elizabeth from office. Many Catholics abroad were quite strict and it was only until the Douai priests came that the things started. Elizabeth clearly becomes concerned not only for her own welfare, but for others, and after giving them ample time to adjust she begins to enforce harsh punishments if her Church was not followed to how she wanted. Catholics were also deterred from rebelling because during the 1570’s many Catholics were executed, and this struck terror into Catholic hearts. The situation abroad was also of some concern because England constantly feared being invaded by a Catholic country and using a back door such as Scotland to show me how to turn around. The Jesuits, one of whom was later hanged, made an exceptional impact on society, and gave a big morale boost to your other teem members. There were simply not enough of them though to reconstruct English Catholicism and most of them were centred in the South East and their impact there was minimal in generating new pockets of Catholicism.
In conclusion both Catholics and Puritans posed great threats to Elizabeth’s Church, but they both had very different angles, perspectives and prospects. The Puritans were the in the minority, and they felt hard done by Elizabeth’s settlement, but they should have felt lucky knowing that most of the country was still Catholic. Attempting to up against the queen and the majority of the nation was not the best idea. The Puritans didn’t even have central ideals, because they each wanted different things, with some being to radical and some not at all. They were too divided; instead they made themselves a less menacing force simply by being so indifferent about what they wanted. The Puritans ended up with a large number of different groups, some more influential than others, but none of them large enough to achieve any real goals to change the Settlement and Elizabeth’s Church to a more Protestant direction. The Catholics being long established, and England being surrounded by Catholic countries surely posed a bigger threat to Elizabeth’s Church; there was always a threat of invasion from a foreign power, and it eventually did come in the form of the Armada and resulted in the country uniting together. There was also the Pope whispering down people’s necks to get Elizabeth to convert back, and there were the large numbers of priests who were secretly performing Catholic ceremonies and there was not much that could be done because Elizabeth knew that outside the major towns Catholicism was still the dominating force no matter what she instated in her Church.
