Читать книгу Fifty Things You Need To Know About British History - Hugh Williams - Страница 16

Elizabeth I did not want, she said, ‘to make windows into men’s souls’. When she became Queen in 1558, men’s souls had been put through a considerable amount of agony. Her father, Henry VIII, had wrenched the Church away from Rome, but her sister, Mary, who had reigned for five years before her, had unleashed a vigorous Catholic counter-offensive. Elizabeth, whose own position was precarious, needed to find a solution that would establish her authority over a divided nation. She did so with her customary skill.

The Act of Supremacy of 1559 made Elizabeth Supreme Governor of the Church of England, rather than the more contentious Supreme Head, which was the title Henry VIII had taken. All public officials had to swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch or risk being barred from office. The heresy laws were repealed. The Act of Uniformity, passed at the same time as the Act of Supremacy, made attendance at church compulsory, but introduced some alterations to the form of service to make it more acceptable to Catholics and required the use of an adapted version of the Book of Common Prayer.

Elizabeth I knew her people well. She recognised that their passions were always streaked with pragmatism, and her solution provided the country with remarkable stability for more than fifty years.