Treatment of Catholics early in Elizabeth's reign

Elizabeth was tolerant towards Catholics early in her reign. Her Religious Settlement was a Middle Way which was designed not to upset Catholics. Elizabeth also ensured that recusancy fines, for not attending church, were kept low.

The growing Catholic threat

After 1568, Elizabeth began to see Catholicism as a threat. The arrival of Mary Queen of Scots, the Papal Bull and a series of plots and rebellions, often linked with the threat of foreign invasion, meant that Catholicism became associated with treason.

In 1574 Catholic Seminary Priests (also known as missionaries) arrived in England. They had been trained at Douai by Cardinal William Allen. They hoped to convert the English back to Catholicism.

In 1580 Jesuit priests, including Edmund Campion, came to England to try to convert Protestants back to Catholicism. Campion was captured by a priest hunter and in 1581 he was hanged, drawn and quartered.

Laws against Catholics:

1581: Recusancy fines increased to £20 so only the rich could afford them.
1585: The Act against Seminary Priests and Jesuits made it treason to be a Catholic priest; they could be executed.
1593: The Statute of Confinement meant that Catholics could not travel more than 5 miles from their home without permission.

Evaluation

During the 1580s there was much greater fear of Catholicism, partly due to the threat of invasion from Spain. In reality, there were no more plots after the death of Mary Queen of Scots in 1587 and the missionary priests struggled to serve the remaining Catholics in England, let alone convert new ones.

GCSE Elizabethan England 1568-1603 AQA

How and why did the treatment of Catholics change?