Immediately after I ascended the throne, the Protestant religion became the official religion of England. However, I didn’t really care what faith my people practiced in private as long as it didn’t affect my politics. So I reached a religious settlement. The religious settlement made all heads of Church swear to the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity. The Act of Supremacy made me the Supreme governor of the Church. If a priest refused to swear the Act of Supremacy, their title would be revoked. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. Elizabeth released revised prayer books that incorporated both Protestant and Catholic faiths into one book. The Act of Uniformity ordered these books to be used in all churches. The new prayer books were good enough for most Protestants and Catholics. It was only the Puritans (extreme Protestants) and Recusants (extreme Catholics) who expressed discontent. The Act of Uniformity also changed some of the rules of religion. Priests could now marry and Bibles were allowed in homes for the first time. When people found some of the Bible’s content confusing, I ordered sermons during church services to explain sections of the Bible to the congregation. People who didn’t go to church were fined. What religion English people practiced on their own time wasn’t my business as long as they followed the religious settlement.
This religious tolerance remained until Pope Pius V recommended to catholic people and catholic countries to attack Protestant England. Nothing came of the order from the Vatican, but the seed had been planted. I immediately enforced fines against Catholic practisers and toured again with the Act of Supremacy. This time each priest was asked “the bloody question”. If England were invaded by Catholics, I asked, would you fight with England or against her? Those who answered wrong (that they would fight with the Catholics) were killed. This regime worked well and by my death in 1603, the majority of English men and woman were Protestant.
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