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How Did Queen Elizabeth Come To Power

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Queen Elizabeth was a woman who excelled as an English ruler even though she lived in a very male-centric world. For hundreds of years, Catholicism held all of Europe with an iron fist that was forged by the belief in God. However, like all empires do, the church’s reign of unchecked authority started to crumble under the reformation. Kingdoms and common folk especially began to realize the flaws within the church and this led to states breaking off and forming new sects of Christianity to suit their interpretations of the bible. On the other hand, some states like King Henry VIII of England used the calving of Christianity for their own political gain. Elizabeth was the result of Henry renouncing the Pope and Catholicism so he could get divorced …show more content…

People who had lived in Catholic England were not happy with Elizabeth and her decision to instate the Church of England, particularly the upper class which Catholicism benefitted. In response to the Protestant reforms Elizabeth and Parliament introduced, "In 1569 a rebellion of feudal aristocrats and their followers in the staunchly Catholic north of England was put down" (Elizabeth 1, Encyclopedia Britannica) and even after a large portion of angry Catholics boiled under the surface and were ready to do anything, even treason, to bring England back to Catholicism. This anger was becoming very dangerous for the country as the queen needed the financial support of her people, and losing the rich ones would reduce England’s financial capabilities. In response to the Catholics, she did not give into parliament and the common folks requests’ for harsher reforms against the older religion (Elizabeth 1). Many of the reforms said that the entirety of England should be one hundred percent protestant and any papal interference would be illegal. In actuality though, Elizabeth seemed to only want to rule freely of the Pope and the clergy. Perhaps her Catholic childhood played into her temperate attitude in the reformation. However, her gentle approach came back to haunt her when "the queen’s informers and spies uncovered an international conspiracy against her life, known as the Ridolfi Plot." (Elizabeth, Encyclopedia Britannica) within her court. This plot was almost successful and was the first direct action that the Catholics had taken. She needed to reevaluate her stance when France and Spain were lurking in the side wings ready to pounce at the slightest scent of weakness. Elizabeth was maneuvering her country between a devastating international war with France and Spain and a civil war with the Protestants that would cripple the

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