1. Elizabethan England Seminar: Religious Belief's and Values
By : Aniya Brinson, Paige Faulkner, and Octavia Miles

2. Primary Religious Beliefs and Doctrines:
During the Elizabethan era, England was divided by two prominent religions:
Protestant – A major branch of Christianity, originating from the Roman Catholic Church. Protestantism was formed from a movement against the errors of the Roman Catholic Church.
Catholic – Another major branch of Christianity, residing under the Roman Catholic, led by a Pope.
Queen Mary worked to restore the power of the Roman Catholic Church in England by passing many pro-Catholic legislations.
Upon her death, Queen Elizabeth gained power and restored Protestantism in England by establishing a permanent Protestant Church of England.
However, to avoid complete anarchy from the change of religion, she allowed features of Catholicism, such as the crucifix, to remain in English culture.

3. Primary Religious Beliefs and Doctrines (CONT.):
St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church
England’s permanent Protestant Church of England, established by Queen Elizabeth

4. Religions Influence on Everyday Life :
Religion was held highly and impacted everyday sectors of life.
Schools taught children the official religion of England decided by the king or queen at the time.
There was confusion in society as holidays were added and removed from the calendar frequently due to the shifts in religious policy.
Laws were set in place fining those who practiced Catholicism.
Practicing Catholicism openly was forbidden, if you disobeyed this law you could become a social outcast, or be imprisoned, tortured, or executed.

5. Civil and Foreign Conflicts Caused by Religion:
In 1558 the Elizabethan era began with the execution of Queen Mary, and the rise of Queen Elizabeth. As Queen, Elizabeth repealed Queen Mary’s pro-catholic legislations and established England as a Protestant country. This caused deep tensions between Protestants and Catholics.
The Monarchies inability to separate between church and state deepened tensions.
Catholic factions would threaten the Monarchy.
Militarily, Queen Elizabeth practiced a foreign policy of strengthen England’s relationship with Protestant nations and dividing England from Catholic nations- this leads to an English-Spanish rivalry.

6. Civil and Foreign Conflicts Caused by Religion (CONT.):
The rivalry between the English and the Spanish would evolve into a war with Spain during
The war with Spain was the result of the execution of the Catholic Queen Mary of Scots.
Spain would attempt to invade England- they sailed the Spanish Armada to England, but the ship was destroyed before it could reach it’s destination.
Due to English religionngland would also spark a rivalry with Irish nations.

7. British Rivalry with Spain

8. Influence on Art and Literature:
The Elizabethan era was the Golden Age of English history; however it is best known for its productions in theatre.
A well known Elizabethan playwright was Shakespeare.
Shakespeare, like many other artist of the time were well aware of the current religious events of the time and, allowed this to be the muse for their works.
The artist of the era used their art as an outlet for their commentary and opinions of the ongoing religious debates, this can be seen in the portrayal of the England’s religious climate in different artist works.

9. Artistic Representations of Elizabethan England’s Religious Climate:
Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night depicted Shakespeare's opinion regarding a Puritan lifestyle
Hamlet’s Claudius mocked England’s religious happenings

10. Elizabeth I (1533-1603) Queen of England:

11. Works Cited:
“1558: Elizabethan Age Begins.” This Day in History. A&E Television Networks, 2018, April 2018
“Elizabethan era War History.” Google sites. Google sites, N/A, April 2018
Alchin, Linda. “Religion in Elizabethan England.” Elizabethan Era. Infolinks, 16 May 2016, April 2018
Clunie, Aurelia. “Religion in Elizabethan England.” Hartford Stage. Education Associate for Student Audiences, 2018, April 2018.
Pettegree, Andrew. “The English Reformation.” History. BBC, 17 February 2011, April 2018
Sharnette, Heather. “Queen Elizabeth and The Church.” Elizabeth R. Self-Published, , April