How serious were the Catholic and Puritan challenges to Elizabeth's Church?
The growth of the Catholic threat after the excommunication of 1570, the recusants, missionary priests and the Jesuits, the government's response, and the nature of the Puritan challenge to the religious settlement.
A focused answer to the Catholic and Puritan challenges to Elizabeth's Church in the Eduqas British study in depth, covering the 1570 excommunication, recusants, seminary priests and Jesuits, the government's response, and the Puritan demands for further reform.
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What this dot point is asking
This dot point covers the religious challenges to Elizabeth's Church in Eduqas's Component 1 British study in depth. You need to explain how the Catholic threat grew after the excommunication of 1570, the role of recusants, seminary priests and the Jesuits, how the government responded, and the very different Puritan challenge from stricter Protestants who wanted to push reform further. Because the depth study uses source and interpretation questions, learn the detail well enough to judge how serious each threat really was.
The excommunication of 1570
Recusants, seminary priests and the Jesuits
The government's response
The Puritan challenge
Try this
Q1. What did the papal bull of 1570 do, and why did it matter? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. Regnans in Excelsis excommunicated Elizabeth and released Catholics from obedience to her, so the government could now treat committed Catholics as potential traitors.
Q2. Explain how the Puritan challenge differed from the Catholic challenge. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Puritans were strict Protestants who wanted to push reform further (abolish vestments, bishops and ceremony), a challenge to Elizabeth's authority dealt with by sackings; Catholics wanted to restore Rome and sometimes replace Elizabeth, a treason threat dealt with by harsh laws and executions.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Eduqas C100 20194 marksDescribe two features of the Catholic threat to Elizabeth.Show worked answer →
The depth-study opener (4 marks, two features, 2 marks each). Reward two distinct, developed features.
Feature one. After the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, English Catholics were released from loyalty to her, so any Catholic could now be seen as a potential traitor who might support a rival claimant.
Feature two. From 1574 missionary priests trained abroad (seminary priests, and from 1580 Jesuits such as Edmund Campion) entered England secretly to keep Catholicism alive, which the government treated as treason.
Top marks. Two separate features, each with a precise supporting detail.
Eduqas C100 20228 marksExplain why the Catholic threat to Elizabeth grew more dangerous after 1570.Show worked answer →
The depth-study "explain why" question (8 marks, AO1 and AO2). Reward a developed analysis of two or three reasons, each with precise support.
Reason one. The papal bull Regnans in Excelsis (1570) excommunicated Elizabeth and told Catholics they need not obey her, effectively inviting them to overthrow a heretic queen, so loyalty and faith were now in conflict.
Reason two. From 1574 seminary priests and from 1580 Jesuits arrived secretly to sustain English Catholicism; the government feared they were the spearhead of plots to replace Elizabeth with Mary Queen of Scots.
Reason three. The international situation darkened: Catholic Spain and France were powerful, and a series of plots (Ridolfi, Throckmorton, Babington) linked English Catholics, foreign powers and Mary, raising the danger of invasion.
Top band. Connect each reason explicitly to the growing danger, and finish with the most serious factor.
Related dot points
- Elizabeth's character and aims as queen, the structure of her court and government (the Privy Council, ministers such as William Cecil and Robert Dudley, Parliament and the role of patronage), and the problems she faced as a new and female monarch in 1558.
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- The religious situation Elizabeth inherited in 1558, the terms of the 1559 Religious Settlement (the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity), the via media or 'middle way', and how far the settlement satisfied Catholics and Puritans.
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- Why Mary Queen of Scots threatened Elizabeth, her flight to England in 1568, the major Catholic plots (Ridolfi, Throckmorton and Babington), the role of Walsingham's spy network, and the reasons for and consequences of Mary's execution in 1587.
A focused answer to Mary Queen of Scots and the Catholic plots in the Eduqas British study in depth, covering why Mary threatened Elizabeth, her 1568 flight to England, the Ridolfi, Throckmorton and Babington plots, Walsingham's spy network, and Mary's execution in 1587.
- The causes of the war with Spain and the reasons Philip II launched the Armada in 1588, the events of the campaign in the Channel, the reasons for the English victory and the Spanish defeat, and the consequences and significance of the Armada.
A focused answer to the Spanish Armada in the Eduqas British study in depth, covering the causes of the war with Spain, why Philip II attacked in 1588, the events in the Channel, the reasons for the English victory and Spanish defeat, and the significance of the campaign.
- Everyday life in Elizabethan England including the gap between rich and poor, the problem of poverty and the Poor Laws, the flourishing of the theatre, and the voyages of exploration that made the age a 'golden age'.
A focused answer to everyday life and the golden age in the Eduqas British study in depth, covering the gap between rich and poor, Elizabethan poverty and the Poor Laws, the rise of the theatre, and the great voyages of exploration.
Sources & how we know this
- WJEC Eduqas GCSE History (C100) specification — WJEC Eduqas (2016)