Religious matters

Model answer

First, Elizabeth called herself Supreme Governor rather than Supreme Head of the Church, which was less offensive to Catholics who believed the Pope was head of the Church. Second, priests still wore vestments and the Church kept bishops, so services and the Church's structure looked familiar.

Model answer

The papal bull was important first because it put English Catholics in a terrible position. Pope Pius V issued Regnans in Excelsis on 25 February 1570. It declared Elizabeth a heretic who was not the rightful queen, released her subjects from obeying her and threatened to excommunicate Catholics who did obey her. Catholics now seemed to have to choose between their loyalty to the Pope and their loyalty to the queen. Most chose to stay loyal, and many continued to attend church as church papists, but from now on refusing to attend church could look like disloyalty.

Secondly, it was important because it changed how the government saw Catholics. John Felton, who nailed a copy of the bull to the Bishop of London's gate, was executed in 1570. In 1571 Parliament passed the Treasons Act, making it treason to say that Elizabeth was not the lawful queen or that she was a heretic, and it became illegal to bring papal bulls into England. As a result, Catholic priests were later executed for treason rather than heresy, such as Cuthbert Mayne in 1577 and Edmund Campion in 1581, and harsher laws followed in 1581, 1585 and 1593.

Thirdly, the bull encouraged active opposition to Elizabeth. It gave plotters such as Roberto Ridolfi in 1571 a reason to try to replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, and it gave foreign Catholic powers, and later the missionary priests, a justification for their work. Although Pope Gregory XIII said in 1580 that Catholics could obey Elizabeth for the time being, the government was not reassured.

These results were linked: because the bull encouraged plots, the government became more suspicious of all Catholics. The most important effect was that it turned a religious difference into a question of loyalty, which allowed the government to treat Catholics as traitors.

Model answer

The missionary priests came because Catholicism in England was in danger of dying out. The priests ordained in Mary's reign were growing old, and no new ones could be trained in England. In 1568 William Allen founded the English College at Douai to train English priests, and more colleges followed in Rome in 1579 and in Valladolid in Spain in 1589. The first seminary priests arrived in England in 1574, and by 1580 there were about 100.

The priests had to work in secret. They landed quietly and travelled in disguise, and they were based in the houses of Catholic gentry, often posing as servants or tutors. There they said Mass, heard confession, and baptised and married Catholics. To avoid capture they hid in priest holes, many of them built by Nicholas Owen, for example at Harvington Hall. They also encouraged Catholics to become recusants and stop attending Protestant services.

In 1580 the first Jesuits, Edmund Campion and Robert Persons, arrived. They used writing as well as preaching. Campion wrote an open letter to the Privy Council saying his mission was purely religious, and his Ten Reasons was printed on a secret press and left in St Mary's Church, Oxford. As a result, many Catholics were encouraged, but the government grew alarmed.

The government's response made the work extremely dangerous. Because the Pope had excommunicated Elizabeth, priests were treated as traitors. Cuthbert Mayne was executed in 1577 and Campion in 1581, and the Acts of 1581 and 1585 made priests' work and sheltering them punishable by death. Margaret Clitherow died in York in 1586 for sheltering priests, and later Jesuits such as Robert Southwell, executed in 1595, met the same fate. About 120-130 priests were executed in all. Even so, the priests kept Catholicism alive as a minority faith, especially among gentry families in areas such as Lancashire and Yorkshire, although many ordinary people drifted into the Church of England.

Model answer

The papal bull of 1570 was an important turning point, because it changed the way the government saw Catholics. However, I do not think it was the main turning point in how Catholics were actually treated. That came in the early 1580s, when the arrival of the Jesuits, new plots and the threat of war with Spain led to much harsher laws and most of the executions.

Before 1570, Elizabeth's policy was fairly moderate. The 1559 settlement aimed at outward conformity, with a fine of 12 pence for missing church, and Catholics who attended church as church papists were largely left alone. Elizabeth is said to have remarked that she did not want to make windows into men's souls.

The bull of 1570 changed the situation. Pope Pius V declared Elizabeth a heretic and released her subjects from their duty to obey her. Catholicism now became a question of loyalty, not just belief. The government responded with the Treasons Act of 1571, which made it treason to deny that Elizabeth was the lawful queen or to call her a heretic, and banned papal bulls from England. John Felton, who posted the bull in London, was executed. This supports the statement, because from now on Catholics could be treated as potential traitors.

However, in practice the treatment of ordinary Catholics changed little in the 1570s. Recusancy fines stayed at 12 pence until 1581, and the first seminary priest, Cuthbert Mayne, was not executed until 1577. The Northern Rebellion of 1569 had arguably been a bigger shock: about 450 rebels were executed and the power of the Catholic northern earls was broken.

The real turning point came between 1580 and 1585. In 1580 the Jesuits Edmund Campion and Robert Persons arrived. In response, the Act of 1581 raised the fine for recusancy to £20 a month, far more than most people could pay, and made converting anyone to Catholicism treason. Campion was executed in December 1581. The Throckmorton plot of 1583 led to the expulsion of the Spanish ambassador Mendoza in 1584, and the assassination of William of Orange in July 1584 showed that Catholic assassins were a real danger. The Bond of Association followed in 1584, and the Act of 1585 ordered all priests ordained abroad to leave England within 40 days or be treated as traitors, with harbouring them a felony. War with Spain began in 1585.

After this, treatment became harsher still. The Babington plot of 1586 led to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587, and during the war with Spain Catholics were seen as a possible fifth column. In 1593 recusants were forbidden to travel more than five miles from home. Most of the roughly 120-130 priests executed in Elizabeth's reign died after 1580.

Overall, I only partly agree. The bull was a turning point in attitudes, because it allowed the government to see Catholics as traitors, but the main turning point in treatment came in the early 1580s, when the Jesuit mission, the plots and the war with Spain turned suspicion into harsh laws and executions.