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When Elizabeth I took the crown in 1558 she was faced with many dilemmas – England was a country in religious turmoil; not only had it just been ruled by three monarchs in under a decade, but it had been ruled by different religions. After the death of Henry VII, who had created the Act of Supremacy declaring the Monarch the sole Head of the Church of England and therefore undermining the power of the Pope, Edward VI took the crown and England was converted into a Protestant country.
There were rebellions during Edward’s reign dividing the nation, and after his death Edward’s eldest sister Mary I became Queen. Being a strict Catholic, England was converted back to Catholicism and it seemed the masses were welcoming this religion back. However, groups of Protestants were unhappy and Mary took strong actions; burning heretics and martyrs. So, when Elizabeth (who is believed to be Protestant) took the thrown, she had a divided nation, with the welfare of her subjects in the balance. One of the problems Elizabeth had when she came to the thrown was cultural development.
The idea of the Renaissance had come to Britain in the sixteenth century and people were becoming more interested in ancient ways of life. Not only that, but a new interest and developments in science and machinery (such as the printing press) meant these ideas could be spread quickly. This was a problem for Elizabeth because she was less able to control what people would think; for example, the belief of a monarchy chosen by God could be questioned if science was to deplete religious beliefs; people would become more educated, learn to think for themselves and there would be more views contradicting the monarchy.
This was also a problem when migration followed: new ideas were being bought over, but citizens of England could migrate themselves and leave their new Queen. Although cultural developments are a problem for Elizabeth, these do not seem to be the most pressing issue at the time. Evidence of this is although science was becoming more prominent, the only major issue concerning religion was which was to be the official religion: Catholicism or Protestantism.
Another problem for Elizabeth was how the civilians regarded her; on the one hand, Elizabeth I was a young, popular and completely English monarch ??? but on the other hand, there were many Nobles wanting her hand in marriage and a view that a female Monarch was weaker and a lesser ruler than a male Monarch. Elizabeth had to be aware of Noble’s plans trying to capture her hand in marriage, and also their plots to try and overthrow her as Queen. Similar to cultural developments, this was a problem that was not as big as some others Elizabeth had to face.
With a secure privy council, Elizabeth could keep track of the Noble’s intentions and make level headed, rational decisions for the country. Elizabeth became Queen at a time of struggle for society ??? not only was there a large class divide between the rich and the poor, but women of all status’ were regarded as inferior. There was also the problem of poverty and a growing rate of unemployment among the peasants. This caused problems for Elizabeth, as there was a risk of her being undermined, as she was a woman, even though she was Queen of England.
With a growing rate of unemployment, peasants were unable to afford their taxes ??? this affected the upper classes, who depended on their rent to afford their lifestyle ??? rebellions would start and Elizabeth, again, ran the risk of being overthrown. This would be quite a significant problem for the new Queen as the divide of classes is as great a problem as the divide in religion; both would lead to rebellions and society, along with the economical state of the country, would crumble.
With a crumbling economy, larger countries such as France and Spain could conquer England and have Catholic dominant in what was left of a society no longer under Elizabeth’s rule. The economic welfare of England was in a poor state with growing unemployment being one contributing factor, but also the large sum of debt the Marian government had run up was another cause for concern. Due to the war with France (in which Mary lost Calais to the French) the increase in tax meant people were unable to keep up with payments and the government could not fund a full time army.
These were problems for Elizabeth as if she were unable to find a balance between affordable tax for the public and affordable protection for England, she was more than likely to cause rebellions and murder plots, let alone invasions from other countries. If other countries were to invade, this would become a major problem for Elizabeth who would more than likely lose her crown. The Queen would also have to contend with rebellions by her own unhappy people who could no longer afford to keep their homes or rent from wealthy landowners.
Another crises that could lead to war is the fact that at the time Elizabeth became Queen, France and Spain were, unfortunately, more powerful than England. Both Catholic countries, France in particular was rather keen on getting Mary Queen of Scots on England’s thrown. This caused a problem for an innately Protestant Elizabeth because is she were to announce Protestantism as the new religion of England she would face war with France, along with murder plots to get Mary Queen of Scots on the thrown. This is a large problem for Elizabeth as she is a Protestant by nature, but would not want to be bombarded with attacks by other countries.
Elizabeth had all these issues to contend with as well as the largest problem of them all; her own religiously conflicted country. Although Mary I was well on her way to restoring Catholicism and, had she had more time, probably would have succeeded, Elizabeth had come to the thrown with different views. Elizabeth had Protestant beliefs due to her mother, Anne Boleyn, and her father’s divide from the Catholic Church. However, as Elizabeth had a different viewpoint than the majority of her country she could run the risk of rebellions if she were to make drastic changes to the religion.
It would mean once and for all cutting all links with Rome and Spain, making England a very vulnerable country. This is the most important problem of all because of all the changes the country had seen recently, and although there is already a high risk of rebellions and war due to other factors, many of them are affected by the stance Elizabeth takes on religion. As shown by the way Elizabeth deals with this issue in particular, Elizabeth manages to retain a widespread peace throughout England and mostly with other countries, while establishing Protestantism as the main religion of England.