Why did Elizabeth pursue a compromise religious settlement in 1559?

In 1559 when Elizabeth became queen, she had the large trouble of trying to decide what religion England should become. Previously, the religion in England had changed with every new person to the throne which each time created problems with the people living in England at the time. Famously, her father Henry 8th changed the Church of England from Catholic because he wanted a divorce from Anne Boleyn and from then on the religion was constantly changing.
So as soon as Elizabeth took the throne she knew she had a big decision to make and whatever decision she made she had to strongly weigh up the advantages and disadvantages and most importantly, think how the public will react.

I think the most important reason for Elizabeth pursuing a compromise religious settlement was to avoid rebellion and develop good relations with powers abroad. An ally in 1559 was Spain due to late Mary being married to Philip of Spain which she wanted to stay allies with. Another possible overseas problem was trying to keep peace with France (Catholic) and to keep the French Government's relations with Scotland minimal. This made Elizabeth’s decision on what to do next very difficult as she needed to keep all overseas relations happy. If not, then Spain may have started war or invaded England which would be the complete opposite of what Elizabeth wanted as it would have made the public very unhappy. Therefore, Elizabeth could not go radically Protestant as that would anger Spain. This made it a main reason for pursing a compromise religious settlement because Elizabeth was very fearful that her overseas relations may turn for the worse and end in war. Not only would this upset the public but it would also make Elizabeth look like a poor ruler who cannot make the correct decisions; this is an opinion Elizabeth would have hated for herself as she was a very strong and independent woman who wanted everyone to know how she was in charge.

A second reason for the compromise religious settlement in 1559 was when the Act of Supremacy was passed in 1558, replacing the original act in 1554 which was placed by her father Henry 8th. This act named Elizabeth the ‘Supreme Governor of the Church of England’; this title was a suitably equivocal title that made Elizabeth head of the Church without ever saying she was. At first, she wanted to name herself the ‘Supreme Head’ but the House of Lords objected to the used of ‘head’. This is because the House of Lords were mainly made up by Catholics and the only ‘head’ of the church in the Catholic religion should be the pope. This new title kept the Catholic followers happy because unlike Henry 8th, Elizabeth did not take away the pope because that would have firstly not been passed by the House of Lords but secondly would have strongly angered the Catholics. Therefore, this was a large reason for her to pursue a compromise religious settlement. To please the Catholics by keeping the pope and seeming like she wasn’t head of the church though she knew in fact, that she was.

In conclusion, I think the most important reason for Elizabeth perusing a compromise religious settlement was to keep good relations with Spain, France and Scotland due to fear of an uproar. This fear led Elizabeth not to go fully Protestant as that would have angered Spain and France (Catholic) which she wanted to stay allies with in fear of invasion/war. She needed that not to happen as the English population would have turned against her and she wanted to keep up a strong public domain and for the public to respect her. This is more important than her new title ‘Supreme Governor of the Church of England’ because although it gave the illusion that she is not head of the church she knew and acted as she was in fact the head which some of the Catholics caught on to and weren’t too happy about.

Lauren Chedzoy