The impact of economic, social and religious developments in the early years of Elizabeth's reign

• When Elizabeth came to the throne, the Crown was £300,000 in debt and England was generally in a bad financial position because:
  • England had suffered bad harvests - a lot of people were farmers so harvest failures would have a massive impact on the economy. There would not be enough food for the growing population.
  • Enclosure was introduced - enclosing lands costs money so in order to do this, landowners will have to cut the wages of their workers. 
  • There was an increase in the population
  • Real wages for the poor were lower than they had been a century earlier; wages were continually falling behind the rises in prices. 
• Previously, Northumberland and Mary wanted to re-stabilise the currency but it was Elizabeth who was able to do so. Early in her reign, a scheme was announced where debased coins would be withdrawn and replaced by minted coins. Some peope suffered due to this scheme but it meant that only sound coins were in circulation. 

• Because of the economic problems, there was an increase in prices and a cut in some wages, meaning that some people couldn't afford to live, resulting in an increase in poverty. An increase in population adds to this growing poverty level.
• This led to a massive Elizabethan problem: vagabondism (people who were homeless and culd move from place to place). This was a problem because they were able to step outside the realm of law and order. Elizabethans had a strong social class system and you couldn't move out of your place in society. Vagabonds posed a threat as they were outside this social structure and no one could keep control over them. 
• Elizabethans categorised their poor into:
  • The deserving poor who were given a limited form of help from charities, churches and private benefactors.
  • The undeserving poor who got nothing and were often punished. 
• Cecil was particularly concerned about the growing numbers of undeserving poor.
• In 1563, Parliament passed an ineffective act to try to deal with this problem but its impact was haphazard (outside of London, it didn't really affect England and counties, such as Norwich and Ipswich, had a massive vagabond problem). 

• The Elizabethan Settlement was undoubtedly Protestant - but how Protestant?
• The reign of Elizabeth saw Protestant exiles return from abroad. Mary's old bishops had refused to hold office (they anticipated that she would restore Protestantism) and new Protestant bishops were appointed. But, many histiorians suggest that the Religious Settlement had not gone far enough and left many Protestants throughout England disappointed as they saw it as an opportinuity for a full Reformation. Elizabeth was unwilling to fulfil this role that the enthusiastics Protestants had carved out for her as someone who could bring a full Reformation to England. Elizabeth took a more conservative approach to religious matters.
• David Starkey suggests that perhaps the disorder created in the mid-Tudor crisis can account for Elizabeth's more sceptical attitude when it came to the Religious Settlement. She had witnessed the negative impact religious enthusiasm and extremism could have upon a country so her main aim in these early days was to unify England under a middle-ground agreement rather than create further conflict and divide. 

Responses to the Settlement

Puritans 

• The crucifix controversy: Puritans were against the use of the crucifix as they saw the crucifix with the dying Christ as idol worship. It also wasn't in the Bible and they interpreted the Bible literally. Elizabeth liked the crucifix and so kept this in her personal chapel. But, she conceeded to her local bishops and many churches were allowed to use the plain cross. 
• The vestment controversy: No where in the Bible does it mention priests or clergymen wearing special clothing and many Protestants were against this. This was one area that Elizabeth refused to concede on and through the use of royal injunctions, vestments were non-negotiable. 

Catholics

• The Revolt of the Northern Earls: Many Catholics were unhappy about the Sunday compulsory church attendance which would be a Protestant mass. This led to the Revolt of the Northern Earls. 

Despite these challenges and concessions, most of the country were willing to comply. She was sure never to inflict punishments too harshly to avoid creating martyrs. The Queen's view was that the Settlement was just an act of state which defined the relationship between Crown and Church and which conclusively established church doctrine.