Answer ALL questions. Write in full sentences for Questions 15 and 16. You are advised to spend about 65 minutes on this pack.
1
Give the year in which the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity were passed, establishing Elizabeth's religious settlement.
(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)
2
Name the official title, used instead of 'Supreme Head', given to Elizabeth over the Church of England by the 1559 Act of Supremacy.
(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)
3
State two requirements placed on clergy and royal officials by the Act of Supremacy of 1559.
(Total for Question 3 is 2 marks)
4
Name two things established for church worship by the Act of Uniformity of 1559.
(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)
5
Give the fine set by the Act of Uniformity 1559 for each failure to attend an official church service.
(Total for Question 5 is 1 mark)
6
Name the only one of Mary I's Catholic bishops who accepted the 1559 Oath of Supremacy and kept his position.
(Total for Question 6 is 1 mark)
7
Give the year in which the Thirty-Nine Articles, setting out the official doctrine of the Church of England, were issued.
(Total for Question 7 is 1 mark)
8
State two reasons why the wording on Holy Communion in the 1559 Book of Common Prayer could be interpreted in more than one way.
(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)
9
Name the set of instructions, issued in 1559 alongside the two Acts, that gave detailed practical rules for churches, such as removing certain religious images and objects.
(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)
10
State what generally happened to the Catholic bishops from Mary I's reign who refused to take the Oath of Supremacy in 1559.
(Total for Question 10 is 1 mark)
11
Name the earlier, more clearly Protestant version of the Book of Common Prayer, introduced in 1552 under Edward VI, that influenced the wording of the 1559 Prayer Book.
(Total for Question 11 is 1 mark)
12
State two ways in which the 1559 settlement can be described as a compromise between Catholic and Protestant practice.
(Total for Question 12 is 2 marks)
13
Give two reasons why Elizabeth may have wanted to avoid a more strictly Protestant religious settlement in 1559.
(Total for Question 13 is 2 marks)
14
Describe two features of the compromises built into the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559.
(Total for Question 14 is 4 marks)
15
Explain why Elizabeth's government introduced a religious settlement in 1559 that tried to satisfy both Catholics and Protestants.
(Total for Question 15 is 12 marks)
16
'The Religious Settlement of 1559 succeeded in creating lasting religious peace in England.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
(Total for Question 16 is 16 marks)
Mark scheme · EDX.EE3 Early Elizabethan England, 1559: The Religious Settlement
Question 1
B1 1559
Answer: 1559
Question 2
B1 Supreme Governor (of the Church of England)
Answer: Supreme Governor
Question 3
B1 they had to swear the Oath of Supremacy, recognising Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church
B1 those who refused to take the oath could be removed from their office or position
Answer: Clergy and officials had to swear the Oath of Supremacy or be removed from office.
Question 4
B1 a single official Book of Common Prayer (the 1559 Prayer Book) to be used in every church
B1 compulsory attendance at official Church of England services, with a fine for absence
Answer: A single official Book of Common Prayer, and compulsory church attendance.
Question 5
B1 1 shilling (12 pence)
Answer: 1 shilling (12 pence)
Question 6
B1 Anthony Kitchin, Bishop of Llandaff
Answer: Anthony Kitchin, Bishop of Llandaff
Question 7
B1 1563
Answer: 1563
Question 8
B1 it blended language from the more traditional 1549 Prayer Book with language from the more clearly Protestant 1552 Prayer Book
B1 this let worshippers with more traditional beliefs, and worshippers with firmer Protestant beliefs, both find their own views reflected in the same wording, since the settlement avoided openly deciding the question
Answer: The 1559 Prayer Book combined 1549 and 1552 wording, allowing different interpretations.
Question 9
B1 the Royal Injunctions of 1559
Answer: The Royal Injunctions of 1559
Question 10
B1 they were deprived of (removed from) their bishoprics/positions
Answer: They were deprived of their bishoprics.
Question 11
B1 the 1552 Book of Common Prayer (Edward VI's second Prayer Book)
Answer: The 1552 Book of Common Prayer
Question 12
B1 some traditional/Catholic-looking features were kept, such as certain clerical vestments and some ceremony in services
B1 core doctrine was made clearly Protestant, for example rejecting the pope's authority through the Oath of Supremacy, so the settlement satisfied neither committed Catholics nor the strictest Protestants completely
Answer: It kept some Catholic-looking ceremony while making doctrine clearly Protestant.
Question 13
B1 England still had a large number of people with traditional/Catholic beliefs, and Elizabeth wanted to avoid provoking rebellion or serious unrest so early in her reign
B1 Elizabeth needed to be cautious in her relations with powerful Catholic states abroad, such as Spain and France, while England was still relatively weak
Answer: To avoid provoking domestic unrest, and to avoid provoking powerful Catholic states abroad.
Question 14
B1 feature 1 identified, e.g. some traditional Catholic-style elements were retained, such as certain vestments and ceremonial in church services
B1 supporting detail for feature 1, e.g. this was intended to reassure worshippers with more traditional beliefs that the new Church was not a complete break from familiar practice
B1 feature 2 identified, e.g. the wording of the Communion service in the 1559 Book of Common Prayer was deliberately ambiguous
B1 supporting detail for feature 2, e.g. by blending 1549 and 1552 wording, it allowed both more traditional and more committed Protestant worshippers to interpret the service in line with their own beliefs
Answer: Any two features, e.g. retained traditional ceremony and vestments, and deliberately ambiguous Communion wording.
Question 15
Level 1 (1-3): Identifies one or two general reasons for a compromise settlement, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (4-6): Identifies and begins to explain one or two reasons, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (7-9): Explains two or three reasons for the compromise, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (10-12): Explains three or more reasons in a well-developed, logically structured way, supported throughout by precise and accurate detail, showing how the reasons connect.
Indicative content:
Religious division inherited from previous reigns: Mary I's Catholic restoration followed Edward VI's Protestant reforms, leaving England deeply split by 1558, with significant numbers holding strong views on both sides.
Fear of rebellion or serious unrest: alienating either committed Catholics or committed Protestants too openly risked provoking resistance at a time when Elizabeth's new and still insecure reign could not afford it.
International caution: Elizabeth needed to avoid unnecessarily provoking powerful Catholic states such as Spain and France while England remained militarily and diplomatically vulnerable in 1559.
The need for quick parliamentary agreement: a moderate settlement was more likely to gain acceptance from a Parliament and body of bishops that still included many with traditional sympathies, than a more radically Protestant programme would have been.
Elizabeth's own likely personal preference for a cautious, moderate form of Protestantism, avoiding the doctrinal extremes seen under Edward VI and Mary I.
These factors reinforced each other: domestic caution about unrest and international caution about provoking Catholic powers both pointed towards the same moderate, compromise outcome, which a Parliament with mixed religious sympathies was also more likely to pass quickly.
Question 16
Level 1 (1-4): Shows limited relevant knowledge of the 1559 settlement and its aftermath, and offers only a simple, unsupported opinion on the statement.
Level 2 (5-8): Shows some relevant knowledge and identifies relevant factors, but the argument is only partly supported and lacks a developed judgement on how far the statement is accurate.
Level 3 (9-12): Shows good relevant knowledge and explains a range of factors, reaching a supported judgement on how far the statement is accurate, with some links made between factors.
Level 4 (13-16): Shows precise, well-selected knowledge and explains a range of factors in a balanced way, reaching a fully supported and sustained judgement on how far the statement is accurate, with clear analytical links between factors and consistently accurate use of specialist historical terminology.
Indicative content:
Supporting: the settlement did establish a lasting legal and institutional framework (the Prayer Book, the Oath of Supremacy) that remained broadly in place for the rest of Elizabeth's reign and beyond, avoiding the repeated, rapid religious reversals of the 1530s-50s.
Against: recusancy persisted and grew, with fines raised sharply by a further Act in 1581, showing a continuing, unresolved body of Catholic non-conformity throughout the period.
Against: Puritan dissatisfaction with the settlement produced ongoing conflict, such as the vestments controversy of the 1560s and the suppression of prophesyings in the 1570s, showing Protestant opinion was not fully satisfied either.
Against: the settlement did not prevent serious plots and unrest linked to religion, including the Revolt of the Northern Earls in 1569 and later Catholic plots against Elizabeth's life.
Balanced: the settlement's basic legal structure did prove durable, even though it never eliminated religious tension; 'lasting peace' may be too strong a description of what was, in practice, an uneasy and continually managed compromise.
Judgement: the settlement succeeded in avoiding large-scale civil religious war and provided a stable legal basis for the Church of England that lasted, but ongoing recusancy, Puritan dissent and religiously-linked plots mean it created manageable stability rather than genuine, lasting religious peace.