When Elizabeth first became Queen of England in 1558, many of her subjects thought that she would act quickly to undo many of the religious changes her sister Mary had brought upon England. Despite conforming to Roman Catholicism during Mary's rule, it was no secret that Elizabeth was a protestant. Upon her coronation as Queen, few actually knew what her intentions would be. Elizabeth had maintained her silence in regards to her plans for reforming the Church. One view is to say that she used her silence as a political trick to keep controversy and conflict to a minimum. It could also be said that the conflict in which she strove to avoid was with Rome. Ever since Henry VIII broke with Rome England had been a Protestant country. When Mary became queen and

Eventually the word of an attack made its way back to Elizabeth. At first she was quick to dismiss what she had heard due to the fact that there was almost always some kind of rumor saying that Spain was getting ready to mount an offensive. Luckily for the Queen her advisors did not take this newest set of rumors. In May of 1588 Spain sent a fleet of ships towards England to launch an invasion. England was ready for the attack. Elizabeth proved to be a worthy leader during the fighting with Spain. She showed true leadership by leaving the castle and traveling to Tilbury to in order to motivate the British soldiers. Elizabeth and England handed Spain a very embarrassing defeat in the English Channel. Elizabeth believed that the victory was due to God being on her side. She said that she had confidence in God; hence she was not afraid to travel to Tilbury to motivate the British soldiers. Upon returning to England, a coin was engraved with the phrase, "God blew and they were scattered" during a Thanksgiving Day service at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Elizabeth's exact views of God, Protestantism, and Catholicism aren't entirely clear. The long and tedious sermons of Protestant preachers tended to annoy her. We can also, however, Elizabeth more likely than not also rejected the Catholic concept of transubstantiation for she was not particularly fond of having the priest of a service to be greatly elevated over the congregation. There were certain things about the Catholic Church that she did enjoy such as candles in the church and music. As for the appearance of the church she preferred a more conservative layout that more so resembled a Protestant church. One view that Elizabeth did share with Rome was that she believed members of the clergy were essentially married to God and the Church; hence she disagreed with members of the clergy entering into marriage. The best glimpse we have of Elizabeth and her religious beliefs are in letters she had written to her friends. In some her letters she would mention that she believed many of her shortcomings came from her not giving in to God's will. What one can say for sure about her religious habits was that in most of her palaces contained their own private worship chapel which she usually visits more than once a day to pray to God. It has also been said by those that were close to her that the focus of many of Elizabeth's prayers were centered around her making the right decisions in concerns to England.

Elizabeth's relationship with Parliament was also important in changing religious services. Today's Parliament is sent up much like it is today with two houses, yet there were quite a few significant differences. The Upper House of Parliament was composed mainly of nobility and was appointed. Members the Lower House were elected, but those elections were often rigged. In general, most of the peopl

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Approximate Word count = 1926
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)