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Religious Convictions (Draft in Progress)
Elizabeth I was faced with scrutiny for religious ideals, mainly by John Knox. In John Knox's "First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women", he states that women who take royal power are attempting to go against God's word. He believes that they are rebelling. This work was released shortly before Elizabeth's rule, so its reach spread around her accession to the throne. He later issued an apology, stating that he was not directly attacking her character, but that he still stood by his ideas that women should not be in power, that they are inferior.

One person who supported Elizabeth in her religious endeavors was Dr. Richard Cox. A "colourful but not always reliable reporter," Schifanoya, said that Cox believed Elizabeth to be the only one "divinely ordained" to change monasteries and purify churches. Elizabeth did not believe in extremes. She wants discussions of religion to be properly argued. She asked her subjects to avoid arguments that were unnecessary or crude. She also asked that they avoid extreme insulting words, such as "heretics". Elizabeth was believed to have feared Catholicism. She was inheriting a country that completely catholic, and her views leaned more towards Protestantism. This was part of the reason for her encouragement of calm discussions.

Elizabeth I was a queen that refused obedience and modesty. She believed that those ideas were not fit for that of a queen. In The Book of Homilies there were many statements about women in lavish clothing and their obedience to husbands which were all ideas that Elizabeth refused. She agreed to the publication of the book, but with exceptions of vague mention of her authority and only picking and choosing which sermons to read.

Elizabeth I had a major role in the Church of England. She was deemed to be the "Supreme Governor" over the Church of England. She had refused to be the "Head" of the Church because of an exiled Marian named Thomas Lever, who convinced her that a woman should not be the Head of the Church of England. Many people believed that by not taking the role of Head was against God's word, but she ended up refusing the title in the end. She took the role seriously, but on the other hand would sit silently in the back and have her archbishops do all of the fighting for hierarchy and structure of the Church. She used her role to help the people of her nation by "healing" them with her touch. A century before hand, it was believed that women did not have the touch to heal people, but she proved that her royalty gave her the upper hand and allowed her to heal by the hand of God.

The view of Elizabeth I as the "Virgin Queen" became paramount in her rule. Many people believed that her presence was that of a religious figure. They formed a cult around her virginity and rule. Many believed that but having her presence was similar to being blessed. They replaced "Virgin Mary" with Elizabeth. Instead of a "Hail Mary!" they would shout "Long live Eliza!" Many of the followers also replaced symbols typically used for Virgin Mary with symbols to use for Queen Elizabeth. They would pray to God for blessings of Elizabeth and curses to those that opposed her. Her birthday, September 7th, fell on the eve of Blessed Virgin Mary's feast of the nativity. Many took this as another sign of her religious makings. Her followers believed that she should share the dare with Virgin Mary. English Catholics were left unhappy with this coincidence.

In her quiet first months as queen, Elizabeth made a few strides. Her predecessor, Queen Mary, was of a high catholic faith. The country was of catholic faith in legal documents and law. During her reign, though, she made changes to how things were run before her accession. She made challenges to the current religion and the idea that everyone must coincide with it. On an Easter Sunday Elizabeth changed the routine of a normal Easter Sunday. She changed the language of the mass, the presence of the stone altar, and she led the communion herself. A debate was held by Catholics and Protestants to argue the validity of the religious reforms happening under her rule. In the end, Protestantism won. Elizabeth, in turn to her belief in Protestantism, had won. She made subtle changes that would effectively combine old and new practices. Her goal was unity. She did not want there to be extremes of both religions, but a middle ground where both sides could be welcomed.

In the church, Elizabeth made strides greater than her intentions. The church turned into the Elizabethan Church, much more protestant than her original idea. The protestants, though, we seen to be less conservative than Catholics or Puritans. They were more comprehensive and open. Elizabeth's intentions build on this, as she rarely wanted to intervene on people's ideas and beliefs. She wanted to create an environment where they could be openly explored. When challenges arose to this new way of life, many were quick to shut it down. Although there were disagreements from both sides, they did not want an entirely new religious reformation, which is what the Puritans were attempting to achieve before migrating to the United States.


 * I believe a hyper link for Elizabeth for her is nice to have unless this specific section is being placed in the article already of her so we could refer back to it when needed
 * seeing some of the info I almost think that there should be more hyper links so it won't sound like its coming all from you and your thoughts of her but more factual, unless your summing up the whole sources
 * the information is presented in a flowing matter
 * content is relevant to the topic