What did the Jesuits do to Elizabeth 1?

Answer 1

The Jesuits arrived in force from the continent to support and spread Catholicism in England after it had become illegal. When Pope Pius V issued his bull excommunicating Elizabeth I, calling her "wicked" and a "heretic" and absolving her subjects of the duty of obedience to her as queen, in fact telling them that they must not obey her. The Jesuits did nothing directly to Elizabeth I, they just disobeyed her orders that there was to be no Catholicism and no Catholic priests in England.

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from the website History Learning Site:

The cause of the rebels was not helped by a Papal Bull that was issued in 1570 that severely criticised Elizabeth as a usurper of the throne; she was referred to as "wicked" and a "heretic" in the Bull. It sanctioned the right of Catholics to "deprive her of her throne".

After the issuing of the Papal Bull, Elizabeth now viewed the Catholics as a major threat. This was compounded when Jesuits started to arrive in England with the sole purpose of expanding Catholicism in the land. The tolerance that Elizabeth had shown in the early years of her reign disappeared. William Cecil, Lord Burghley, advised execution for those who refused to pay allegiance to the Queen. Cecil emphasised that their executions would be based not on their beliefs but solely on their refusal to accept Elizabeth as Queen. The state's relationship with the Catholics in England became even more difficult with the onset of the Revolt of the Netherlands when their Spanish masters systematically persecuted Protestants in the region. With thousands of Catholic troops literally just a few hours sailing away, England went on the offensive.

In 1585, now with the arch-conformist John Whitgift as Archbishop of Canterbury, an Act of Parliament ordered that all Jesuits and Catholics priests should be driven from the kingdom

Answer 2

Elizabeth I was declared a heretic and excommunicated from the Catholic Church.