Traditionally, historians such as A.G. Dickens and G.R. Elton have argued that by 1558, the majority of the English people were ready to welcome the new Protestant national Church and become loyal Anglicans. A minority group of Catholics remained, but their support for the Pope and Mary, Queen of Scots, meant they could be labelled as political traitors and were therefore the legitimate targets of repressive government legislation. As a result, E’s claim that she did not penalise people for their religious opinions was valid; she reacted only to political threats. Recent works, however, have argued that this view is too simplistic because the majority of the population, especially outside London, was Catholic and not Protestant in 1559.

6. From the 1580’s legislation identified Catholics, and Catholic priests in particular, as political traitors, against the background of fears of foreign invasion.

Written by a Jesuit on the English mission in 1594, while in captivity

1568. Mary, Queen of Scots, arrives in England. William Allen founds the first college for seminary priests at Douai, Flanders.

Some topics in this essay:
House Lords, Duke Norfolk, Religious Settlement, English Catholic, House Commons, Queen Scots, Jesuits Catholic, Act Jesuits, Christopher Haigh, William Allen, seminary priests, mary queen scots, mary queen, queen scots, religious settlement, church papists, catholic community, robert parsons, e’s reign, majority english, church services, majority english people, loyal catholics depose, claim penalise people, penalise people religious,