Elizabeth I Dbq

Megan Escott

Mr. Cook

AP Euro

10 December 2013

DBQ

        Due to the religious influences in the English empire, many church officials disagreed with a female monarch, which caused them to speak out against Queen Elizabeth, but she responded to these ideas by constantly being an assertive leader that was also understanding of the people in her empire.

        When Elizabeth I came to power, religious officials were angered at the thought of a woman being in power, due to the religious doctrine that women should be inferior to men. As seen in Document 1, John Knox, a Scottish religious reformer uses a quote from the Bible in order to support his claim that a woman should not have authority over a man. Because he devoutly believes in the Bible, he is biased towards this mindset. According to his beliefs, a woman cannot rule over a man, so a woman should never occupy the place of God. Similarly, in Document 2, an archbishop explains to the House of Lords that a woman cannot hold any position in Christ’s church, which means that Elizabeth cannot be supreme head of Christ’s militant church. He is also biased because of his religious beliefs. Finally in Document 5, bishops in the Church of England produce a book that discusses the domestic role of men and women. They proclaim that the husband should be the leader, and the wife should perform subjection. Elizabeth authorizes the production of this book because she wants her nation to understand that she still supports religion and the influence it has on the people’s everyday lives.

        There were many supporters of Elizabeth who acknowledged that even though she was female, she could handle the task of ruling England. In Document 4, a friend of Elizabeth I’s tutor discusses that having a female ruler is not bad in England because the ruler works with Parliament and is not a “mere monarchy.” These claims are still influenced by the ideas that women should be inferior to men. Elizabeth’s rule will be justified because her actions will have to be checked by Parliament. Others, however, support her fully because of her strength alone. Document 3 contains the proclamation that the “queen’s highness is the only supreme governor” in the Act of Supremacy. This suggests the fact that she does have some control over Parliament to assure the passage of the reformed Act. As her reign continues, she gains more supporters, which upsets the religious entities. As seen in Document 7, a Roman Catholic priest describes the situation: people no longer revere the Virgin Mary with importance, but celebrate Queen Elizabeth and even sing praises to her at the end of public prayers. This shows that she has support from the general public, but continues to be scrutinized by those with high-religious positions.

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