Why were the catholics and puritans and jesuits a threat to elizabeth the first?

Answer 1

Although all of these faiths caused a problem for Elizabeth, It is thought that the most predominent of them was Catholicism.

As far as Elizabeth was concerned, so long as Catholics behaved themselves, were loyal to her, and attended church now and then, they were free to believe what they wished. Elizabeth tried to accommodate Catholic beliefs in her religious settlement so that they could go to church without feeling guilty or disloyal to their faith, and often turned a blind eye to Catholics who had secret services in their home. There was no attempt to ruthlessly seek out Catholics, and no desire to put ordinary men and women to death simply for their faith.

After creating a fairly stable religious set up, whereby England was a protestant country without objection to catholicism in private practice, Elizabeth came to be dismayed at the arrival of cousin Mary. Although this is not the question asked, it is important to understand the background of Mary's arrival before persuing the religious aspects of it.

Mary Queen of Scott's had a claim to the English throne which was based on the fact that she was the grand-daughter of Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII who was Elizabeth's father. In the eyes of the Catholics, Mary's claim appeared stronger than Elizabeth's because they believed that Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn was illegal. When Mary's young husband Francis II died in December 1560, Mary -who was about to become 18 years of age, was left in a difficult position. Unwilling to stay in France and live under the domination of her mother-in-law so she decided to return to Scotland and take her chances with the Protestant reformers.

On 19th August 1561, Mary returned to Scotland and recognised the Reformed church and allowed it a modest endowment but not full establishment. The Protestant reformers were angry.

In 1568, Mary was in great danger living in Scotland due to religious circumstances, and so in fear, fled to England in search of help from her cousin, Elizabeth I.

However, the presence of Mary in England was very alarming to Elizabeth, as the religious differences had only recently been solved, and Mary's presence was almost certain to cause a Catholic rebellion. As a strong figurehead for Catholic uprising, backed by the pope, protestant officials in England wanted to make certain that news of Mary's arrival did not spread, allowing plots to form and religious unsettling to occur. It was this fear that caused the decision the imprison Mary, which would continue for a further 19 years. During this time, many catholic plots were generated. These include:

- A papal bull issued on 25 February 1570 by Pope Pius V declaring "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" to be a heretic and releasing all her subjects from any allegiance to her and excommunicating any that obeyed her orders

- The Ridolfi plot was a plot in 1570 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was hatched and planned by Roberto di Ridolfi, an international banker who was able to travel between Brussels, Rome and Madrid to gather support without attracting too much suspicion.

- The Babington plot, generated by Anthony Babington was similar to the Ridolfi plot, intending to kill Elizabeth in favour of Mary. In 1586 Mary replied to a secret letter from Anthony Babington. As with earlier plots, Babington and his fellow conspirators planned to kill Elizabeth and make Mary Queen of England. Unfortunately for Mary, she had been trapped. English secret agents had always known about the plot and Mary was charged with treason. Elizabeth, however, couldn't bring herself to execute her cousin. Months passed before Elizabeth's advisors pressured her to sign the death warrant. On the 8th Feb 1587 Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England.