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History · Crime and punishment in early modern England

Religious Change and Crime

How the Reformation turned religious belief into a question of loyalty to the monarch - and made new crimes out of it.

c1500-c1700
7 key terms
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What Do You Already Think?

Answer before the lesson, then check your ideas at the end.

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.
What is the difference between heresy and treason?
Heresy is going against the Church's teaching; treason is betraying the monarch.
Could the law change even if nobody's behaviour did?
Yes - a new monarch could make yesterday's normal worship today's crime.

Learning Objectives

1Describe how the official religion of England changed between 1534 and 1603.
2Explain why religious change created new crimes against authority, such as treason and recusancy.
3Compare how Mary I and Elizabeth I punished religious opponents.

Setting the Scene

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.
1570 The Pope excommunicates Elizabeth, encouraging Catholics to disobey her.
1605 Catholic plotters try to blow up James I and Parliament.

Monarchs and Religion

Each change of monarch could change what counted as a crime.

Henry VIII (1509-47)
Religion: Broke with Rome. Who was punished: Those who denied his supremacy, and some Protestants. How: Treason and heresy executions
Edward VI (1547-53)
Religion: Protestant. Who was punished: Few executions; heresy laws repealed. How: Mainly fines and imprisonment
Mary I (1553-58)
Religion: Catholic. Who was punished: Protestants. How: Around 280 burned as heretics
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Religion: Protestant. Who was punished: Catholics, especially priests. How: Fines for recusancy; execution for treason

Religion Becomes a Crime Against Authority

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.

Mary I and Elizabeth I

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.

Why Treat Religion as Treason?

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.

Crime Against God or Crime Against the Monarch?

Place each punishment on the line.

1 Mary burns Protestants
Punished as heresy - a sin against the true faith
2 Henry executes Thomas More
Denying the king's supremacy was treason
3 Recusancy fines
Refusing to worship in the monarch's Church
4 Elizabeth executes priests
Treated as agents of a foreign enemy

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) (12 marks)

Link each new crime to the change that caused it, and explain why the monarch saw religious disagreement as a threat.

Key terms

The vocabulary this lesson expects you to use. Each one is linked from the first place it appears above.

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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