Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was
Queen of England,
France (
in name only), and
Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. She is sometimes referred to as
The Virgin Queen,
Gloriana, or
Good Queen Bess, and was immortalised by
Edmund Spenser as the
Faerie Queene. A new
Act of Supremacy became law under Elizabeth. The queen's title was agreed to be
Supreme Governor of the Church of England rather than the more contentious
Supreme Head. At the same time, a new
Act of Uniformity was passed, which made attendance at church and the use of an adapted version of the 1552
Book of Common Prayer compulsory, though the penalties for disobedience were not extreme. Many
Roman Catholics, particularly on the continent, regarded Elizabeth as a heretic. In 1570,
Pope Pius V excommunicated her, calling her the "pretended queen of England". This sanction, which in theory released English Catholics from allegiance to Elizabeth, only served to link loyalty to the throne and membership of the
Anglican church more closely together. It also placed English Roman Catholics in greater danger, encouraging them to rebel and raising doubts about their loyalty to the crown.
