On The Catholic Policies During The Reign Of Elizabeth Ⅰ

The Tudor Reformation promoted by Henry VⅢ was characterized by the interweaving of political religionization and religious politicization.Ⅰn this period,not only the Protestantism and the Catholicism coexist at the same time,but also Catholics were still active.Ⅰn order to solve the threat of Catholicism and achieve the unity of religious belief and political stability in the country,Queen Elizabeth issued a number of Catholic policies at the beginning of her reign,and her policy reflected the tone of tolerance.With the outbreak of domestic rebellions and the bull excommunicating Queen Elizabeth,Elizabeth’s policies towards Catholicism gradually turned harsh.After the 1580 s,Catholic rebellions occurred frequently due to international Catholic agitation.Moreover,the development of seminary and Jesuit missions,and the military threat from Spain,all of which prompted Queen to intensify her attack against Catholicism.This dissertation is arranged into three parts: introduction,main text and conclusion,and the main text includes three chapters.The first chapter mainly focuses on the influence of the religious policies of Tudor monarchs Henry VⅢ,Edward VⅠ and Mary Ⅰ on the formation of Elizabeth Ⅰ’s religious view,as well as the Catholic threat to Queen Elizabeth’s reign.The second chapter focuses on the basis of the basic contents of the Elizabeth Ⅰ’s Catholic policies,and elaborates the stage characteristics of her policies.The third chapter focuses on the main characteristics,short-term and long-term effects and limitations of the Queen’s Catholic policies.Elizabeth’s Catholic policies were the important impetus for the Tudor Reformation and the inevitable product of the development of England during the formation of nation-state.Ⅰt not only converted the majority of domestic Catholics turn to the Anglicanism,and consolidated the achievements of the Tudor Reformation,but also dealt a heavy blow to the Catholic conspiracy and international Catholic forces,defended the status of Anglicanism which with English national characteristics,and effectively maintained the unity of faith and political stability in England.Ⅰn addition,because the boundary between religion and politics was too blurred,the Queen’s Catholic policies could only temporarily ease the religious conflicts,but could not unravel the complex religious ecology of England,which laid the groundwork for the religious policies pursued by the early Stuart Dynasty.This is the conclusion of this dissertation.