CHAPTER V. ELIZABETH, 1558-1603 (45 years). Chief Characters of the Reign.-Archbishop Parker; William Cecil, Lord Elizabeth's claim supported by Philip. ELIZABETH was in her twenty-sixth year when she was called by the acclamations of the nation to become queen. According to the will of Henry VIII., the next heir after her was Lady Katharine Grey, younger sister of the Lady Jane; but, according to the ordinary rules of inheritance, Mary, Queen of Scots, had a better title. A few who thought Elizabeth illegitimate would have placed Mary on the throne at once. Mary, however, had married the Dauphin of France, so that her accession meant the union of England, Scotland, and France under one head. This Philip of Spain was obliged to prevent at all costs, so he was forced to support Elizabeth. It was lucky for Elizabeth that such was the case. She found her kingdom weakened by the bad rule of Mary and the council of Edward VI.; she was actually at war with France; Elizabeth's and, as Philip was her only ally, it would be most relations with serious to lose his help. Philip, however, was anxious to keep her friendship, and offered to marry her if a dis Philip. pensation from the pope could be obtained. But to this Elizabeth could never consent, for she could not acknowledge the right of the pope to grant such a dispensation without admitting that Henry VIII.'s marriage with Katharine of Aragon had been lawful, from which it would follow that she herself was illegitimate. She therefore ventured to refuse him, and dared, moreover, to offend him by making such a settlement of religious affairs in England as Philip, being a rigid Catholic, could not possibly approve. The Church of The new queen had no intention of submitting to the pope, but she had no liking for the views of the ardent Protestants. She Her religious and her chief adviser, Cecil, wished that the doctrines views. of the Church of England should be so ill defined that few could not find an interpretation which should include their views within its pale, and that services should be so ordered that any Christian could attend them without offence. The England. services, however, were to be in English, and the Bible was to be freely circulated in the mother tongue. Over this Church the queen was declared to be in all causes, ecclesiastical as well as civil, supreme within her own dominions. The forty-two Articles of Religion in which Cranmer had defined the doctrines of the Church of England were reduced to thirty-nine. The Second Prayer-book of Edward VI. was revised, and Parliament passed an Act of Uniformity ordering it to be used in all churches, and forbidding the use of any other form of public worship. Everybody was to go to church, or incur the payment of a fine of one shilling for each offence. This settlement was received by the nation without enthusiasm, but without resistance. The old Catholics would have liked to keep Attitude of the the mass; the new reformers would have cleared people towards Elizabeth's away much which they regarded as superstitious; reforms. but of the clergy, only about two hundred out of nine thousand refused to accept the arrangement and resigned their livings. Mary's bishops, however, with one exception, refused and were deprived, which enabled Elizabeth to appoint men to whom her aims were acceptable, at the head of whom was Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury. Of the laity many were discontented, and a few refused to come to church; but the great mass accepted the change as inevitable, and gradually, while the old generation died away, a new one sprung up, to whom the English service became as dear as the mass had been to their fathers. Roman Catholic laymen who refused to attend church were called recusants. Some Protestants refused to accept Elizabeth's scheme, and after a time separated themselves from the Church. Of these the chief sects were the Presbyterians and the Independents or Brownists. Others, though they re- The Puritans. mained in the Church, agitated for further reforms, objecting specially to the use of the ring in marriage, the cross in baptism, and to other practices which they thought to be superstitious. To these and to the Separatists was given the general name of Puritans. The Court of High Commission. To carry out Elizabeth's policy, commissions were from time to time granted to bishops and others, giving them power to inquire into and punish cases of immorality and heresy, and offences against the acts of Supremacy and Uniformity. In 1583, this commission became permanent under the name of the Court of High Commission. In foreign affairs, Elizabeth's first business was to make peace with France. This she did in conjunction with Spain, stipulating that Calais, or a sum of money as its equivalent, Elizabeth's was to be restored in eight years-a condition not foreign policy. likely to be kept. No one expected that England could stand alone; it was assumed that it must lean either upon France or upon Spain. It was equally assumed that Elizabeth would marry some one, either a subject or a foreigner. Elizabeth disappointed both these expectations. She and her friends saw that so long as France supported the claim of Mary, Queen of Scots, Spain could never ally with France against England, and she trusted to this fact to keep England out of war until it was strong enough to hold its own. She also saw that a marriage with a foreigner would displease the English and entangle her abroad, and that one with an Englishman would cause jealousy at home. If she married a Catholic, the Protestants would expect a new persecution; if a Protestant, it would fling the Catholics into the arms of Mary, Queen of Scots; and for these reasons she determined to remain single. For the present, therefore, her policy was to keep on good terms with both France and Spain, and not allow herself Р to be drawn into any match, though she allowed it to be thought that her hand was still a prize to be won. The Scotch proposal. The first change in the situation came from Scotland. There the reformers had taken up arms against 'Mary of Guise, widow of James V., who was supported by French troops. The leader of the reformers was John Knox, who, however, had offended Elizabeth by a letter written during the reign of Mary against the rule of women. The Scottish Protestants called on Elizabeth to help them, and it was proposed that Mary should be declared deposed, and that the two kingdoms should be united by a marriage between Elizabeth and the Earl of Arran, who stood next after Mary in the Scottish succession. Elizabeth, however, found that Arran had not the qualities which would make him a desirable husband, while the vacillation of the Scots made her distrust their alliance. The scheme, therefore, fell through. Union of France and Scotland. towards the During its discussion the French king, Henry II., died, and Mary, Queen of Scots, and her husband Francis II., became Queen and King of France. The new sovereigns called themselves also Queen and King of England. In 1560 Francis died, so the union between France and Scotland was dissolved. The chief power in France fell into the hands of the family of Guise-to which Mary, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, belonged-who were staunch Catholics, and in 1562 Elizabeth sent aid to the French Protestants, or Huguenots, in order Elizabeth's to embarrass the government. The struggle between attitude the Catholics and Huguenots in France was of great Huguenots and use to Elizabeth, as it prevented the Catholics Catholics. from taking an active part against her, and the Huguenots were her friends. When the Catholics had the upper hand she was afraid they would join Spain, and therefore had to temporize with Philip; when the Protestants were the stronger, she could be bold. This fact makes her conduct appear vacillating, because it depended on circumstances which she could not control. Revolt of the After a time the Netherlands, the richest part of Netherlands. Philip's dominions, were driven to revolt by Philip's arbitrary measures. This weakened Spain, and so made Elizabeth's position relatively stronger. For a long time, however, she had to be very careful. to Scotland. Mary Marriage with When her husband was dead, Mary, Queen of Scots, returned home (1561). She was beautiful and clever; but she was not popular with her subjects, because she was a Catholic, while Return of Mary they were Protestants. After refusing several marriages which were suggested to her, married her cousin, Henry Lord Darnley. He Henry Darnley. was a grandson of Margaret, widow of James IV., by her second husband, and so stood next to Mary in the succession to the English crown. Politically it was a good match, but Darnley was a bad husband. He was younger than his wife, foolish and jealous, and in 1566, just before his son, afterwards James, King of England and Scotland, was born, he joined with some other nobles to murder Mary's secretary, David Rizzio, in whom she placed a great deal of trust. Rizzio was dragged from the room in which he was at supper with the queen and killed in the antechamber. Mary never forgave her husband. He was murdered the next year, and shortly afterwards Mary married Lord Bothwell, who had planned the murder, to which many thought that Mary herself had been privy. The nobles rose in revolt. Mary was beaten at Carberry Hill, forced to abdicate, and imprisoned in Lochleven Murder of Rizzio. Darnley murdered. Battle of Battle of Langside. Castle. In her stead her little son James was Carberry Hill. crowned king. In 1568, Mary escaped from Lochleven and was joined by an army of Catholics, but Mary fled to was again defeated at Langside, and this time she fled to England and implored the assistance of Elizabeth. England. To the queen the arrival of her cousin was somewhat embarrass 1 GENEALOGY OF DARNLEY. (1) James IV. m. Margaret Tudor m. (2) Earl of Angus. James V. m. Mary of Guise. Margaret m. Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lennox. d. 1542. Mary, Queen of Scots, m. Lord Darnley. Charles Stuart, Earl of Lennox. executed 1587. killed 1567. James I. of England. d. 1625. Arabella Stuart m, |