What were the plots against Elizabeth I?

Answer 1

The two main reasons were:

• The conflict between Roman Catholics and Anglicans (the members of The Church of England) was very strong, which fueled the arguments of "who was the legitimate ruler of (or heir to) England's Crown.

• Elizabeth I's legitimacy was challenged, and therefore, many thought she was not England's true heir, and participated in attempts to restore the crown or the true heir, of England. Thus, this ultimately meant, plotting against Elizabeth I.

Actually, the two main reasons usually overlap. Elizabeth I was Henry VIII's and Anne Boleyn's first and only (living) child. Anne Boleyn married Henry VIII, while his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was still alive. Henry made an attempt to have his marriage to Catherine annulled by the Pope, prior to marrying Anne. The Pope, who had been imprisoned by Emperor Charles V, Catherine of Aragon's cousin, could not give Henry an answer to his petition for an annulment. England's Lord Chanchellor, Cardinal Wolsey, arranged to have someone representing the Pope (Cardinal Campechio) to sit in judgment at a special Ecclesiastical court convened in Dover, to hear arguments from Catherine and Henry, as to the reasons for and against the validity of the marriage. The Pope then sent a message to Henry before a decision was reached in Dover. The message was that Henry was not to engage in any subsequent marriage until a decision was made on the validity of Henry's marriage to Catherine, was reached by the Pope. Henry took this message to mean that an annulment was not going to be granted, and thus, a turning point in the history of Christianity was created. Instead of accepting the Pope's message, Henry officially "broke away" from the Roman Catholic Church, or from the powers of the Vatican. With the help of many Religious and Political leaders in England, Henry created "The Church of England" or "The Anglican Church."

When Henry created The Church of England, it was similar to the Catholic Church, except whoever was King (or Queen) at the time, was also head of the church, rather than the Pope. The Pope's power in England was then nullified and outlawed through several acts passed in Parliament. All religious orders of the Catholic Church who still recognized the Pope as the "Infallible head of the Catholic Church" were stripped of all titles, and many were executed. In 1532, the Boleyn family's chaplain, Thomas Cranmer, was appointed to the vacant position of Archbishop of Canterbury. That same year, a lawyer who was a supporter of Anne, Thomas Cromwell, brought before Parliament a number of acts including the Submission of the Clergy, which recognized Royal Supremacy over the church. Anne and Henry married in late January of 1533, and Elizabeth was born the following September, of the same year. Many did not recognize this marriage, and thought by law, and in the eyes of God, Henry's marriage to Anne, was not legitimate. In fact Anne Boleyn, (Elizabeth's mother) was nicknamed by many as "the great whore", a cruel stigma, which remained with Elizabeth, too, and up through her entire reign, as queen. Many though, celebrated this "break" from the Pope, and embraced the "Church of England."

When Anne and Henry were married, Catherine of Aragon was in poor health but alive.

She was supported by her only living child, now a young woman, Princess Mary (Who became Queen Mary, England's first crowned queen, to rule the United Kingdom.

Cranmer was then sent to sit in judgment at a special court convened at Dunstable Priory and rule on the validity of the Henry's marriage to Catherine. Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine null and void, and five days later, Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Anne to be good and valid.

Anne and Henry's marriage produced only one living issue or child, Princess Elizabeth, named after Henry's mother. Anne did have another child, a boy, but he was stillborn.

After the horrid tension and chaos which took place as a result of Henry's marriage to Anne, and the profound changes with the church, Henry found himself with a new set of troubles; a great divide between large groups for the Catholic church, and those for the new Church of England.

By the time, Elizabeth had her first birthday; Henry was ready to divorce Anne. After Anne and Henry's second child, a boy, was stillborn, Henry was convinced Anne had some sort of special "power" over him, and had killed their son, or "bewitched" the circumstances, so that the boy was purposely stillborn. Within months of Anne's stillborn Anne was charged and convicted of "trumped up" charges of High Treason, and executed.

To many, Henry's marriage to Anne was never legal or legitimate, including any children produced because of their marriage, including Elizabeth.

Jane Seymour was Henry's next and third wife, whom he had married with in the same week of Anne's execution. By the time that Henry married Jane, Catherine had passed away, so even in the eyes of the staunchest Roman Catholics, Henry's marriage to Jane was legitimate, and any issue or children produced from the marriage too, were legitimate. (Naturally, he was a widower) Edward (later, Edward VI) was the only child born to Henry and Jane.

The Act of Succession was passed in 1536, and subsequent to the Act of Supremacy, which stated that all issue or children born prior to Edward were illegitimate, in the eyes of the law. There was a Third Act of Succession, which was passed in 1546, restored Mary and Elizabeth's legitimacy, and also stated that in default of Edward producing any heirs, the throne would be passed on to Mary, and if Mary did not produce any heirs, the throne would go to Elizabeth.

After Henry died, 9-year-old Prince Edward was King; he was left with 16 Consorts to guide him, until the age of 18. Unfortunately, Edward died just 3 months before his 16th birthday; the cause of death was likely tuberculosis. He did not have any children.

By this time, The Church of England had many strong supporters, and these supporters never wanted another member or supporter of the Roman Catholic Church on the throne, again. Mary, Edward's older sister was next in line, to inherit the throne, according to The Third Act of Succession. Mary, like her mother Catherine of Aragon, was a devout Roman Catholic, and had no intention to keep the Church of England, in power. Elizabeth, who was about 18 when Edward died, was not only a follower and supporter of the Church of England, you can almost say, a product of the church. Those who feared that Mary when queen, would restore the Catholic Church's power in England, devised a plan to have Edward name his second cousin Lady Jane Grey, as the next heir to the throne. Lady Jane was learned, young (age 15), and many thought; a candidate for marriage to Edward, at one time, and most of all, a loyal member of the Church of England. Lady Jane's father raised an army to place and placed Mary and many of her supporters in exile. Edward's Lord Protector, influenced Edward to change his will so that Lady Jane, by order of succession, (and not his sister Mary) as the next heir to the throne. Lady Jane was on the throne for 9 days, and then Mary successfully returned to England, to claim her throne. Because the Third Act of Succession was passed by Parliament, many, even those reluctant supporters of Mary's, recognized Mary as the rightful heir.

Mary was crowned, and did restore the powers of the Catholic Church in England. Unfortunately, Mary did not have any children, and died after likely becoming ill with Ovarian or Uterine cancer. Before Mary's death, she reluctantly recognized Elizabeth as the next heir to England's throne. Mary died, knowing Elizabeth was not a practicing Roman Catholic, and suspected that the powers granted to the Roman Catholic Church would once again, be abolished.

Mary was correct. Though Elizabeth was a God loving and God-fearing woman, she ruled with logic, and was not motivated by fear and anger, like her father. Elizabeth was a fair and benign ruler with it came to other faiths. One practice she did continue, started by her father was to abolish all of the powers of the Catholic Church. Those Priests and Clergy, who continued to practice as Clergy, and recognize the Pope as the head of the church, were often executed in horrible ways. Many of the same clergy members were also leading plots to restore the Catholic Church, and also restore that they thought was the legitimate heir to the throne, and thus, were plotting against Elizabeth.

If one was to follow the rational of those true followers of the Catholic Church, then one would believe Elizabeth was illegitimate, and therefore, had no right to rule England, or to the Crown. So, since Jane and Henry's marriage was legitimate, so were their children. Their only child had long passed away; the next living legitimate heir in line was Mary Queen of Scots. She was the granddaughter of Margaret of Scotland, Henry's older sister and James IV of Scotland, and a practicing Roman Catholic. By 1567, Elizabeth I had been on the throne of the United Kingdom for almost 8 years, unmarried, and still thought by many, at NOT having a rightful claim to the crown. Many thought Mary Queen of Scots, aged 25, who had just married her third husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, had a much better claim the throne. Mary and her husband, were faced with her own world of problems, as there was a strong belief amongst many that Mary's husband the Earl of Bothwell, had murdered her 2nd husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and the father of her only child, James VI. There was soon an uprising in Scotland, which forced Mary to abdicate the Scottish throne. Mary then fled to England, where she incorrectly thought her cousin, Elizabeth, would offer her some sort of protection from her angry countrymen. Mary and her supporters also saw this time as an opportunity to plan Mary's claim to the British crown, by succession due to Elizabeth's illegitimacy. Mary actually was part of a bigger conspiracy to remove Elizabeth from the throne, which still in part, exists today. A movement called the Jacobites. Those (many Scottish) who were Roman Catholic, and non members of the Church of England, claim that it was the Stuart line or Mary of Scotland's descendant's, who should have inherited the throne.

Mary and her conspirators ended up being convicted of High Treason, and either were executed or ended up in prison.

In the end, Elizabeth died, never having been married, and thus, leaving no direct issue or children to inherit her throne. Ironically, Mary Queen of Scots' son, James VI, was the next heir to the throne. It is also ironic because unlike his mother, he was not a Roman Catholic; he was a supporter of the Church of England, and the "James" who commissioned a "King James" version of the bible.

Answer 2

the northern rebellion plot(1569)

the ridolfi plot(1571)

the throckmorten plot(1582)

the babington plot(1586)

Answer 3

Elizabeth I gave Prodestent more power over the catholics and her cosin Mary queen of Scots was a catholic and the catholics wanted Mary to be queen instead af Elizbeth