12 marker:

Explain why Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in February 1587.

The main reason for Mary’s execution was the continued religious and political threats she posed
Elizabeth. Catholics unhappy with Elizabeth’s rule, such as the Northern Earls, consistently turned to
Mary as a legitimate alternative to Elizabeth. She could promise to return England to the Catholic faith.
However Elizabeth had not wanted to risk a war against either France or Spain and she did not want to
execute her second cousin, an anointed queen, but the threat eventually became too much.

A further reason for Mary’s execution could be connected to her possible involvement in her husband,
Lord Darnley’s death. The Protestant Scottish lords believed that she was guilty of his murder and this
started the rebellion which eventually led Mary to flee Scotland. She had hoped to gain support from
Elizabeth in England, but the threat she posed Elizabeth was too great. Though Elizabeth did not want to
put an anointed Queen on trial she did, but could not bring herself to claim that she was guilty. Elizabeth
feared repercussions from other European countries, such as France and Spain. These two countries
were world superpowers and Catholic.

The final event that lead to her execution was her involvement in the barbington plot. The aim of the
plot was to put Mary on the throne. Proven by coded letters from The duke of Guise, Walsingham
intercepted and ciphered the letters that were sent to Mary. This was the very piece of evidence they
needed to execute Mary-they knew she was involved in all the other plots but they never had any
evidence till now. This was presented to the Privvy Council at Mary's trial, in which she was found guilty.
Mary was executed on Feb 8th 1587.

Other 16 marker:

Most people accepted Elizabeth’s religious settlement of 1559 because they believed it wasan
acceptable compromise of religious arguments which could hopefully stop conflictbetween Catholics and
Protestants. In particular many people would have believed that itas much better as a compromise to
stop the persecution of people (Protestants especially)under Mary I (aka Bloody Mary). Mary I had killed
over 300 Protestants in 5 years becauseshe was strictly opposed to the Protestant religion as heresy. This
meant Protestants werepersecuted and burned at the stake. Therefore Protestants would welcome the
compromiseof the religious settlement as it seemed to secure the Protestant faith as the official faith
ofEngland and made Elizabeth Supreme Governor of the Church. As a Protestant Queen shewould
protect them from the Pope and a return to extreme Catholicism which wouldprevent them from
worshipping or at worst persecute and kill them. Most Protestantswould also accept the freedoms given
to them to have churches and services in their ownlanguage, without ornate decoration and the idea of
not accepting transubstantiation inHoly Communion. Therefore Protestants would on the whole accept
the settlement becauseit gave them freedom to worship and made England Protestant under the Acts of
Uniformityand Supremacy.

Another reason why most people accepted Elizabeth’s religious settlement of 1559 wasbecause it had a
lot of compromises which most Catholics could accept. Elizabeth wantedthe settlement to be a
compromise to ensure people would be loyal to her and to reducereligious tensions and instability. As a
result of this Elizabeth allowed Catholic beliefs to beexpressed in their services where people wanted
this. For example she wanted to keep aCatholic “feel” to churches. The new Prayer Book which was
introduced was worded so thatCatholics and Protestants could interpret it how they wanted. This meant
there were fewerforced demands on Catholics and consequently they would be more likely to accept
andeven support the settlement outwardly. Elizabeth made it clear that even in areas whichwere slow to
make changes such as Lancashire, there would not be harsh punishmentswhich could stir up opposition.
This resulted in a period of calm with few major rebellionswhen the settlement was introduced.

Catholics could also support the religious settlement made by a Protestant Queen becauseof the careful
wording and implementation of the Royal Injunctions. The Royal Injunctionswere made to establish and
clarify the two acts of the settlement. Although there wereguidelines and rules such as every parish had
to have a copy of the Bible in English (whichmade Protestants happy) there were references to miracles
and saints which were so opento interpretation that Catholics could also be happy. Therefore the
settlement was morewidely acceptable and accepted because it did not seek to separate or divide
religions butallow parts of both, which in turn allowed liberal members of Catholic and Protestant
churches to accept the compromise or “Middle Way” as it became known. This was veryimportant
because people had experiencedreligious persecution and division due tomonarchs choosing one
religion or another whereas Elizabeth was trying a new compromiseto bring the moderates together.

16 marker:

Religion was Elizabeth’s main problem in the years 1558-69’. How far do you agree? Explain your
answer.

When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 her people were divided by religion. Her sister, Mary, had
made Roman Catholicism the official religion of the country, but many of the people were Protestant.
There was also a growing number of Puritans. Elizabeth had to find a compromise. Elizabeth’s tolerant
approach seemed to have worked on the whole

Elizabeth first big problem was religion. She had to decide on the nature of the religious settlement she
would introduce. To solve these problems Elizabeth brought in two new acts. Firstly the Act of
Supremacy 1559, this made Elizabeth Supreme Governor of the Church. It also gave Protestants
freedom, something they didn't have in Mary's reign. This would have gained Elizabeth support from
them. As well as this, the act provided communion in both kinds, keep Catholics and Protestants happy.
It would seem Elizabeth was trying to make a religious settlement for both religions. This act passed
through parliament easily, showing Elizabeth clearly had a lot of support behind her. Secondly the Act of
Uniformity was brought in, in 1559. This was modeled on the second pray book of Edward VI, this act
seemed to give more to the Protestants than the Catholics for example every church was to have an
English prayer book.

One reason why Mary was such a threat was her legitimacy. Unlike Elizabeth, who was never accepted
by the Catholic community, Mary was seen as a legitimate heir. Her parents had been legally married
before her birth and at just one week of age Mary succeeded her father as Monarch of Scotland.
Elizabeth on the other hand was not seen as the legitimate child of Henry VIII, by many who did not
accept his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. This gave grounds to many Catholics to replace her as
Monarch and set the next family member, Mary Queen of Scots, on the English throne.

When Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, she inherited a difficult financial situation anda debt of
nearly £300,000 .Elizabeth needed to restructure and solve the problem of debt because debt makes
acountry weak and unable to deal with problems. Without money she could further reduceher right to
rule and be questioned even more about issues such as her legitimacy to rule. Amonarch needed money
in the 1500s to fight wars and make alliances, without these amonarch could not do what they were
supposed to which was have the power to protectand rule the country. Elizabeth might therefore be put
under even more pressure to marry asuitable suitor to create an alliance or gain revenue for her country.
This could furtherweaken her ability to rule as it could dilute her power yet not marrying and not
havingenough money could jeopardise her fragile rule.