ELIZABETH
Queen Elizabeth, who reigned over England during the period of the Dutch revolt, came to the throne when about twenty-five years old. She was tall and commanding in presence and endowed with great physical vigor and endurance. After hunting all day or dancing all night she could still attend unremittingly to public business. Elizabeth had received an excellent education; she spoke Latin and several modern languages; knew a little Greek; and displayed some skill in music. To her father, Henry VIII, she doubtless owed her tactfulness and charm of manner, as well as her imperious will; she resembled her mother, Anne Boleyn, in her vanity and love of display. As a ruler Elizabeth was shrewd, far-sighted, a good judge of character, and willing to be guided by the able counselors who surrounded her. Above all, Elizabeth was an ardent patriot. She understood and loved her people, and they, in turn, felt a chivalrous devotion to the "Virgin Queen," to "Good Queen Bess".
PROTESTANTISM IN ENGLAND
The daughter of Anne Boleyn had been born under the ban of the pope, so that opposition to Rome was the natural course for her to pursue. Two acts of Parliament now separated England once more from the Papacy and gave the English Church practically the form and doctrines which it retains to-day. The church was intended to include everyone in England, and hence all persons were required to attend religious exercises on Sundays and holy days. Refusal to do so exposed the offender to a fine.
[Illustration: ELIZABETH]
TREATMENT OF ROMAN CATHOLICS
The great body of the people soon conformed to the state church, but Roman Catholics could not conscientiously attend its services. The laws against them do not seem to have been strictly enforced at first, but in the later years of Elizabeth's reign real or suspected plots by Roman Catholics against her throne led to a policy of repression. Those who said or heard mass were heavily fined and imprisoned; those who brought papal bulls into England or converted Protestants to Roman Catholicism were executed as traitors. Several hundred priests, mostly Jesuits, suffered death, and many more languished in jail. This persecution, however necessary it may have seemed to Elizabeth and her advisers, is a blot on her reign.
PROTESTANTISM IN IRELAND
The Reformation made little progress in Ireland. Henry VIII, who had extended English sway over most of the island, suppressed the monasteries, demolished shrines, relics, and images, and placed English-speaking priests in charge of the churches. The Irish people, who remained loyal to Rome, regarded these measures as the tyrannical acts of a foreign government. During Elizabeth's reign there were several dangerous revolts, which her generals suppressed with great cruelty. The result was to widen the breach between England and Ireland. Henceforth to most Irishmen patriotism became identified with Roman Catholicism.
[Illustration: SILVER CROWN OF ELIZABETH'S REIGN]