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Religious Change and Crime.pptx
Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026.
EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Religious Change and Crime
c1500-c1700
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
What Do You Already Think?
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
Answer before the lesson, then check your ideas at the end.
1
Why might a king care what religion his subjects followed?
2
What is the difference between heresy and treason?
3
Could the law change even if nobody's behaviour did?
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
What Do You Already Think? - Answers
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
1
Why might a king care what religion his subjects followed?
Religion and loyalty were linked: rejecting the monarch's Church could look like rejecting the monarch.
2
What is the difference between heresy and treason?
Heresy is going against the Church's teaching; treason is betraying the monarch.
3
Could the law change even if nobody's behaviour did?
Yes - a new monarch could make yesterday's normal worship today's crime.
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Learning Objectives
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
1
Describe how the official religion of England changed between 1534 and 1603.
2
Explain why religious change created new crimes against authority, such as treason and recusancy.
3
Compare how Mary I and Elizabeth I punished religious opponents.
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Setting the Scene
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
In 1500 England was a Catholic country and the Pope was head of the Church. Over the next century the official religion changed again and again, depending on who sat on the throne. Each change meant that people who stayed loyal to the old faith could suddenly become criminals.
1534
Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy makes the king Head of the Church of England.
1547
Edward VI makes England firmly Protestant.
1553
Mary I restores Catholicism and the Pope's authority.
1559
Elizabeth I's Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity create a Protestant Church of England.
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Setting the Scene (cont.)
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
1570
The Pope excommunicates Elizabeth, encouraging Catholics to disobey her.
1605
Catholic plotters try to blow up James I and Parliament.
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Monarchs and Religion
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
Each change of monarch could change what counted as a crime.
Monarch
Religion
Who was punished
How
Henry VIII (1509-47)
Broke with Rome
Those who denied his supremacy, and some Protestants
Treason and heresy executions
Edward VI (1547-53)
Protestant
Few executions; heresy laws repealed
Mainly fines and imprisonment
Mary I (1553-58)
Catholic
Protestants
Around 280 burned as heretics
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Protestant
Catholics, especially priests
Fines for recusancy; execution for treason
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Religion Becomes a Crime Against Authority
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
Once the monarch was head of the Church, disagreeing with the Church meant disagreeing with the monarch.
Act of Supremacy
In 1534 Henry VIII made himself Head of the Church of England. The Treason Act of the same year made it treason even to say that he was not.
Thomas More
Henry's former chief minister refused to accept the supremacy and was executed for treason in 1535.
Recusancy
Under Elizabeth, people who refused to attend Church of England services were called recusants and were fined - 12 pence a week from 1559, rising to £20 a month in 1581.
Catholic priests
After 1570, being a Catholic priest in England, or converting someone to Catholicism, could be treated as treason.
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Mary I and Elizabeth I
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
MARY I (1553-58)
• Wanted to restore Catholicism and the Pope's authority.
• Treated Protestants as heretics - a crime against God.
• Burned around 280 people, including Archbishop Cranmer.
• Earned the name "Bloody Mary" from Protestant writers.
ELIZABETH I (1558-1603)
• Wanted a Protestant Church that most people could accept.
• Treated Catholic opponents as traitors - a crime against the queen.
• Used fines for ordinary recusants.
• Executed around 200 Catholics, mostly priests, for treason.
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Why Treat Religion as Treason?
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
For Tudor monarchs, religious unity meant political safety.
Excommunication
In 1570 the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth and told Catholics they need not obey her, so loyal Catholics looked like potential rebels.
Foreign threat
Catholic Spain was England's great enemy; the Spanish Armada sailed in 1588.
Plots
Catholic plots to replace Elizabeth with Mary, Queen of Scots, such as the Babington Plot (1586), convinced the government that Catholics were dangerous.
Unity
A kingdom divided by religion was seen as a kingdom open to rebellion.
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Crime Against God or Crime Against the Monarch?
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
Place each punishment on the line.
CRIME AGAINST GOD
CRIME AGAINST THE MONARCH
Mary burns Protestants
Punished as heresy - a sin against the true faith
Henry executes Thomas More
Denying the king's supremacy was treason
Recusancy fines
Refusing to worship in the monarch's Church
Elizabeth executes priests
Treated as agents of a foreign enemy
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Key Terms
Chapter 2: Crime and punishment in early modern England, c1500-c1700
Lesson 1 of 5
Reformation
The break from the Catholic Church that created Protestant churches.
Act of Supremacy
Henry VIII's 1534 law making the monarch Head of the Church of England.
Recusant
A Catholic who refused to attend Church of England services.
Excommunication
Being expelled from the Catholic Church by the Pope.
Treason
Betraying or threatening the monarch.
Heresy
Holding beliefs that go against the official religion.
Act of Uniformity
Elizabeth's 1559 law setting out how everyone had to worship.
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EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Summary & Exam Focus
England's official religion changed several times between 1534 and 1559.
Each change created new criminals among those who kept the old faith.
Mary punished Protestants as heretics; Elizabeth punished Catholics as traitors.
Religious crimes became crimes against authority because the monarch led the Church.
EXAM FOCUS
Explain why religious changes led to new crimes in the period c1500-c1700. (12 marks)
Link each new crime to the change that caused it, and explain why the monarch saw religious disagreement as a threat.
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