Puritan Challenge

Puritan Challenge to Elizabeth

Obviously, the main aim of the Puritans was to continue making the Church of England more Protestant. But what did this actually mean?

Puritan Challenge Crucifix

It might be hard to believe, but the Puritans objected to having crucifixes (a cross with Jesus on it) hanging in churches! They believed that worshipping a representation of Jesus as a human counted as idolatry and that only plain crosses should be worn or hung in churches. This was difficult to adhere to, as Elizabeth I had decreed that every church should have crucifixes in it.

Features of Puritan Challenge

So, now we know exactly what the Puritans wanted, how did they challenge Elizabeth I and the Religious Settlement?

The Vestarian Controversy (1566)

The Vestarian Controversy in 1566 was the first big attempt by the Puritans to change the terms of the religious settlement. Since the settlement had passed, many Puritan preachers had refused to wear the surplice as was required by law. Elizabeth I was not happy with this. She did not want to be lenient, as it would encourage other people to flout the rules of the settlement, causing bigger problems down the line.

Fig. 1 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury 1559-1575

Therefore, in 1566 Elizabeth I asked the Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, to enforce conformity. He did so, and as a result, 37 ministers were suspended, leaving several parishes without ministers for Easter. There was uproar at this, and other Puritan ministers began to refuse to wear the surplice or admit those who did into their churches.

Several authors wrote pamphlets against the wearing of surplices in an attempt to sway the public to their cause. Eventually, Matthew Parker gathered a group of priests at Lambeth Palace and gave them a simple choice; conform or lose your job.

Fig. 2 - A Catholic clergyman wearing a surplice over a cassock

The controversy died down at the end of 1566, but the issue still remained; some form of closure came in 1571, when William Strickland, a Puritan MP, tried to introduce a bill to ban the wearing of vestments - however, it did not make it through Parliament. Elizabeth I would eventually ban Parliament from discussing religious matters in 1585.

Prophesying (1575-83)

The next challenge to the Religious Settlement came in the form of prophesying.

The aim of prophesying was to ensure that the clergy was well-educated in religious matters, but Elizabeth I did not like prophesyings as she felt they were being used to upset the balance of the settlement by encouraging Puritanism.

Elizabeth ordered the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Grindal (Matthew Parker had died in 1575), to put a stop to these prophesyings and reduce the number of preachers in each district - but Grindal refused; he felt that they were beneficial for the Church.

It should be noted that Grindal was not a Puritan - he simply desired to improve the Church and clergy. However, Elizabeth was far too wary of the religious challenges to her authority and, while recognising their benefits, remained firm in her stance to abolish prophesying. In May 1577, she sent instructions out to all the bishops ordering them to suppress prophesyings (as Supreme Governor of the Church, she could do this!), and she suspended Archbishop Grindal for his disobedience until his death in 1583.

John Stubbs' Pamphlet (1579)

One of the biggest issues Elizabeth I faced during her reign was the constant pressure for her to get married and produce an heir. In 1579, marriage negotiations began with Francis, Duke of Alencon, the brother of the King of France, Henry III. The prospect of the Queen marrying a Catholic Frenchman greatly disturbed the Protestants of England, who feared a reversal of the Reformation and greater French influence over England if the marriage happened.

Fig. 3 - The Duke of Alencon by Francis Clouet

That same year, a writer and political commentator called John Stubbs, a Puritan, published a pamphlet called 'The Discovery of a Gaping Gulf whereunto England is like to be swallowed by another French Marriage'. In this pamphlet, he heavily criticised the idea of a French marriage, calling it 'immoral' and 'contrary'. He claimed that the Queen was too old to have children (Elizabeth I was 46 at this time) and that English culture, language, and values would be at risk. He also identified a risk to free speech, which he felt Protestantism upheld, but Catholicism didn't.

Needless to say, Elizabeth I was angered by this pamphlet. It wasn't long before Stubbs was arrested and charged with seditious writing. Initially, Elizabeth wanted to give him the death penalty but was convinced to opt for a less serious punishment. In the end, Stubbs had his right hand cut off, and copies of his pamphlet were burned.

Puritan Challenge Failure

By the end of Elizabeth I's reign, the Puritan Challenge to Elizabeth I had mostly dissipated, as the main leaders had died off. Elizabeth I had dealt with the challenges to authority firmly and gave no leeway for Puritan ideology and doctrine to disable her power or position.

Overall, the Puritan movement within Elizabeth's Parliament and court was not in much danger of taking over. While Parliament was dominated by Protestants, only a fraction of them was strongly Puritan enough to want reform on the scale of the Puritan Challenge.

Yet, this has been debated: the historian Sir John Neale argued for the existence of a 'Puritan Choir' - a group of Puritans that had a significant effect on the formation of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement and further religious and political change. Neale's thesis has been rebuked by other historians, such as Norman Jones and Christopher Haigh, who argue that Neale overstates the importance of the Puritan faction and ignores the influence of Catholic MPs in the Elizabethan Parliaments.