In the first of a new series of blogs on the Elizabethan period, Dr Andrew Thrush, editor of our 1558-1603 House of Lords project, discusses the last-minute attempts by the bench of Catholic bishops to thwart Elizabeth I’s reintroduction of Protestantism. He also draws attention to an important, if little appreciated, date in the re-establishment of the English Protestant state, as it was on 24 June 1559 – 462 years ago to the day – that the 1559 Act of Uniformity took effect …
In May 1559, six months after Elizabeth I ascended the throne, England formally returned to the Protestant fold, to the dismay of her Catholic bishops. The English Reformation had begun under Henry VIII, with Protestantism becoming entrenched under Henry’s immediate successor, Edward VI. However, during the brief reign of Elizabeth’s half-sister Mary I (1553-58) England had readopted Catholic doctrine and restored the papal supremacy. Elizabeth’s…
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