Why Elizabeth should have kept England a Catholic country by Shanice Woolley and Megan Hack

If Elizabeth had not enforced a new religious settlement declaring England as a protestant country her reign would have been without so much unrest. For instance she wouldn’t have had to worry about passing laws through the House of Lords where revisionists historians believe was the biggest Catholic threat as they would have been in support of Elizabeth. The North would have been easier to control without the establishment of a council and she would not have to worry about Spain and Scotland entering England posing a Catholic threat from the North.  The Northern rebellion of 1569 also would not have gained support from the Catholic nobles who later hid the Jesuits priests. Furthermore Elizabeth would have demonstrated her political authority better as Cecil would not have been so supportive of remaining Catholic as he himself was Protestant, consequently the debate between historians as to whether Cecil led Elizabeth would not have occurred.   Also the English Catholics would not have favoured Mary Queen of Scots to become Queen as they would already have a Catholic monarch who was legitimate  as a result the Catholic plots would not have surfaced and the Pope would not have ex-communicated Elizabeth.  Mary’s execution helped to trigger the Spanish Armada if Elizabeth had stayed Catholic we would not have gone to war with Spain because they are also Catholic, therefore we would have built on the alliance formed in Mary reign via Mary and Philip’s marriage.  An alliance with such a powerful country would mean that any Protestant revolt would be highly unlikely as they would not have the support from major countries as France, Italy, Spain, Scotland and Ireland were all Catholic. 

Another reason as to why Elizabeth should have remained Catholic is in order to help control her Privy Council, for instance she sent Robert Cecil to put down the rebellion in Ireland however he makes peace terms against her wishes, consequently she puts him under house arrest and gets rid of his sweet wines monopoly. This results in Essex rebelling, which would not have occurred if he had not gone in to Ireland to supress the Catholics; therefore if Elizabeth herself was Catholic she wouldn’t have sent him and none of the events would have occurred.

If she had remained Catholic she would have had two legitimate heirs who she would have recognised, Mary and her son James VI.