the possibility of peace for England during Queen Elizabeth’s sovereignty. Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father, ruled England in a Roman Catholic way. When Henry wanted to marry Anne Boleyn, he asked the pope to annul his marriage to his first wife. The pope refused, and as a result, Henry split from the Roman Catholic Church and became the head of the Anglican Church. When Henry died, Mary, Elizabeth’s half-sister, inherited the throne. She re-established Catholicism as the official religion. Mary died and Elizabeth succeeded the throne (renaissance). As a new person in power, the religious question became the first issue in her rule. Some claimed that she had atheistic beliefs because she did not conform completely to Protestantism or Catholicism (Weir 55). Elizabeth’s first action as leader of England was her proclamation forbidding preaching and the temporary stoppage of the reformation of the Anglican Church until she could determine what ideals she would embrace in her new Church of England. She ordered the assembly of Parliament, and the Parliament instated two acts, the act of supremacy and the act of uniformity. The history of Elizabeth’s religious past contained many influences towards Protestantism as well as Catholicism. Elizabeth’s mother, Anne, embraced the Protestant faith, therefore it seemed that Elizabeth would also become a follower of the Protestant religion. However, under Mary’s rule, Elizabeth openly practiced the Catholic faith. Elizabeth would want to retain the friendship with Spain, and keeping Catholicism might assist in that process (Levine 68). “All she wanted from her subjects was loyalty to herself and the state and conformity to the laws governing religion” (Weir 59). Elizabeth states many times that she would not examine or interrogate nor would she stand for any or the said probing of any person with respect to their religious values or ...
