The Catholic challenge

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The Catholic challenge
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The Catholic church

• The Catholic church is a hierarchy with the Pope
  at the Head of the Church, based in Rome.
• It emphasizes the doctrines of free will and
  transubstantiation, and its central religious
  worship is the Mass.
• All Catholics are expected to attend Sunday mass.

St Peters Basilica in Rome, part of the Vatican,
the seat of Papal power and authority.
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English Catholicism in the 1560s

• At the start of Elizabeths reign, most English
  people were Catholic.
• England also faced difficulties in foreign
  affairs, as France and Spain were Catholic.
• Elizabeths most serious threat came from Mary
  Queen of Scots, who would possess a strong claim
  to the English throne should Elizabeth die.
• As such, Mary acted as a potential leader for
  English Catholics and was seen as a constant
  threat by Elizabethan Protestants.

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Increasing levels of threat

• In the early 1560s, the Catholic Church accepted
  that Protestantism could become permanent.
• It established the Council of Trent to discuss
  the Reformation.
• This Council defined Catholic doctrines and gave
  orders for the Counter-Reformation an attempt
  by the Catholic Church to win back those under
  the influence of Protestantism.

Titians painting of a session of the Council of
Trent 1562-1563.
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The Northern Earls rebellion 1569

• Mary Stuart fled from Scotland to England in
  1568, where she became the focus of Catholic
  plots and rebellions against Elizabeth.
• One of these rebellions was the Northern Earls
  Rebellion, led by the Earls of Northumberland and
  Westmorland and the Duke of Norfolk.
• The rebels initially seized Durham and moved
  towards York.
• Elizabeth moved Mary south to Coventry, and sent
  an army north to confront the rebels. Eventually
  the rebellion collapsed.
• Several hundred rebels were executed, including
  the Earl of Northumberland.

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Regnans in Excelsis

• Although it was too late in arriving, the Pope
  issued a Papal Bull in support of the Northern
  Rebellion.
• In this Bull, he excommunicated Elizabeth and
  instructed English Catholics not to obey her.
• This placed English Catholics in the position of
  choosing between their faith and their monarch.
  From now on, Catholics could be viewed as
  potential traitors.
• The Ridolphi plot in 1571 reinforced this view.
  The Duke of Norfolk was executed and the Spanish
  ambassador expelled.

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Elizabeths response

• As a result of these increased threats from
  Catholics, Elizabeth was forced to take stronger
  action.
• The 1571 Parliament declared it to be treason for
  anyone to write that Elizabeth was not Englands
  lawful queen.
• Bringing papal bulls into England was made
  illegal.
• It was illegal for people to leave England
  without permission for more than six months.
  Those who did so would lose their lands.

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The missionary threat

• From 1574, English Catholic priests, trained in
  Europe, were sent to England to sustain and
  restore the faith of English Catholics.
• Parliament passed two Acts making such missionary
  activity illegal

Above Douai Seminary in France, the place where
English missionaries were trained. Left Cardinal
William Allen.
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The Jesuits

• The Society of Jesus was formed by Ignatius
  Loyola, as an elite group of missionaries under
  the direct control of the Pope.
• Jesuits are highly educated and motivated priests
  who often tackle the most difficult missionary
  assignments.
• English Jesuits were sent to England from 1580 as
  part of the Counter Reformation. They were
  particularly feared by the English, who believed
  that some were involved in plotting to overthrow
  Elizabeth.

Edmund Campion, an English Jesuit, who was
captured, tortured and executed for missionary
activity in England in 1581. He is now revered as
a martyr by English Catholics.
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Catholic plots against Elizabeth

• The Throckmorton plot 1581-1584 planned invasions
  of England from Scotland and the Netherlands.
• In 1585 a Catholic MP, Dr Thomas Parry was
  convicted of planning Elizabeths murder.
• The Babington Plot 1586 planned Elizabeths
  murder and aimed to replace her with Mary Queen
  of Scots.
• In 1588 the Spanish aimed to invade England. Its
  armada was defeated and dispersed by English
  naval action and a major storm.

The defeat of the Spanish armada
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Execution of Mary Queen of Scots

• Evidence was produced to show that Mary was
  implicated in the Babington Plot.
• Elizabeth had been reluctant to move against Mary
  but was now forced to sign her death warrant.
• Mary was executed at Fotheringay Castle on 8
  February 1587.

A French woodcut of Marys execution.
Watch this video extract about Marys execution.
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Measures against Catholics

• In response to the Catholic threat, the
  Elizabethan government stepped up action against
  Catholics.
• In 1585 a specific Act was passed by Parliament
  providing for the hunting down and execution of
  missionary priests.
• Recusancy fines were increased and enforced more
  strictly.
• Catholics recusants were forced to remain within
  five miles of their local church to avoid them
  moving to a different area to avoid recusancy
  fines.

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The survival of Catholicism.

• Despite this persecution, English Catholicism
  survived.
• 180 Catholics (including 120 priests) were
  executed between 1581 and 1603.
• Catholicism survived, especially in remoter
  counties such as Lancashire. Many JPs in such
  areas were Catholics and may not have enforced
  recusancy.
• In the 1590s, a split developed between moderate
  and hard-line Catholics over issues of
  accommodation with the Protestant government.
• This accommodation was ruined by the Gunpowder
  Plot in 1605.

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The Gunpowder Plot 1605

• This plot involved a group of Catholic
  conspirators who were alleged to have planned to
  blow up Parliament when James I was present.
• The plot was discovered before it could be
  carried out and the conspirators killed or
  executed.
• This plot reinforced the popular perception that
  Catholics were traitors, and led to further
  anti-Catholic persecution.

Above The conspirators. Below Guy Fawkes
execution scene.
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Further information

• Read Murphy et al Pg 61-68
• Some useful web sites
• http//www.historyonthenet.com/Tudors/elizabeth_ma
  ry_queen_of_scots.htm
• http//tudorhistory.org/
• http//englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/maryqosbi
  o.html
• http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stua
  rt_mary.shtml
• http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/launch
  _gms_spying.shtml