In his 2012 book The Watchers, the historian Stephen Alford argues that the threat from
Catholics created ‘dangerous and uncertain times’ in Elizabethan England. How for do you
agree with this view?
I agree that the threat from Catholics created ‘dangerous and uncertain times’, however it could have been
made worse by the way Elizabeth’s government dealt with issues.
Some may argue that there wasn’t much of a threat from Catholicism. Most Catholics had dropped their faith
by 1570 because lots of Priests accepted Elizabeth’s changes and few could afford the fines for not attending
church, these had increased dramatically during in Elizabeth’s reign. In 1581, parliament passed the act of
persuasions which raised the fine for recusancy by 10,000% which amounted to the average income of most
landowning gentry families – the fact that Elizabeth had to put tighter controls on the Catholic community
demonstrates the she, and her government, felt that Catholics did impose a threat onto Elizabeth and her
parliament. However, a majority of Catholics did conform to Elizabeth and her power; the conformers created
no threats to Elizabeth and actually influenced others to follow along with how they were acting because it
made their lives easier. For example, Thomas Tresham was a wealthy member of the gentry who worshipped
according to the protestant book of prayer but was still a catholic at heart. Which shows to us that although
there was a large catholic population, Elizabeth was able to control the Catholic community by increasing
restrictions and limiting the power that normal, Catholic people had. The new laws that Elizabeth imposed
could have given those Catholic plotters and recusants more of a motive to create ‘dangerous and uncertain
times’-showing us that Elizabeth bought some of the issues caused by Catholics onto herself. Some may also
argue that Catholics weren’t often to blame for the ‘dangerous and uncertain times’ it was actually Elizabeth.
Edward Campion was a loyal Englishman who believed that Elizabeth had the wrong denomination of
Christianity – but never did anything to directly threaten Elizabeth. However, to Elizabeth religion and politics
couldn’t be separated and sentenced Campion to a traitor’s death. Campion created no imminent threats to
Elizabeth’s reign or life but she may have caused some herself by murdering someone well-known by the
Catholic community. This may have given more. Power-hungry Catholics an inspiration to plot against her
which created ‘dangerous and uncertain times’ for her and her power. Elizabeth was the queen and, at those
times, the monarch had absolute power because it was believed they were chosen by God – The divine right of
kings. This Power that Elizabeth had made it relatively easy for Elizabeth to deal with threats from some
Catholics, she could get anybody that disagreed with her punished or killed. An example of Elizabeth creating
‘dangerous and uncertain times’ was when John Stubbs wrote a pamphlet criticising the Queen for considering
marriage to a French Catholic – his pamphlet was destroyed and Stubbs was arrested by the government, his
right hand was cut off by a butcher’s knife; after the punishment he was imprisoned. This demonstrates how
easy it was for Elizabeth to punish minor inconveniences, therefore showing us that Elizabeth would be able to
deal with more dangerous Catholic threats, without major threats to her ultimate power.
However, others may argue that Catholics did create ‘dangerous and uncertain times’ during Elizabethan
England. The most influential catholic during the Elizabethan period was the Pope, who single-handedly
presented Elizabeth with one of the largest threats to her throne throughout her reign. In 1570, Pope Pius V
excommunicated Elizabeth from the catholic church. This became a major threat to her power because it gave
more Catholics reasons to dislike her, which could have caused more Plots against her to be created. In 1580,
Pope Pius said that it would not be a sin for any catholic to murder Elizabeth and anyone who killed the Queen
would be ‘obeying God’s wishes’. These statements from the Pope will have given a new motive to plotters
who already believed that she wasn’t the rightful Queen since her excommunication in 1570, and also those
who already weren’t prepared to wait for Elizabeth’s natural death because they felt they had a duty to God to
replace her with Mary Queen of Scots. Mary was, to many, the biggest threat Elizabeth faced during her 44-
year reign. Mary was next in line to be Elizabeth’s successor, with a strong claim to the Throne because she
directly descended from Henry VII and Mary was a catholic Monarch. There were many Plots -such as the
Babington Plot- which linked Mary to be involved (although it was later discovered that evidence was actually
falsified); coded letters in which Mary and plotters were communicating through were discovered by
Walsingham’s spies. This discovery led to Mary being put on trial, her being found guilty and being executed on
the 8th of February 1587. The fact that Elizabeth went through with the execution of her cousin demonstrates
Catholics created ‘dangerous and uncertain times’ in Elizabethan England. How for do you
agree with this view?
I agree that the threat from Catholics created ‘dangerous and uncertain times’, however it could have been
made worse by the way Elizabeth’s government dealt with issues.
Some may argue that there wasn’t much of a threat from Catholicism. Most Catholics had dropped their faith
by 1570 because lots of Priests accepted Elizabeth’s changes and few could afford the fines for not attending
church, these had increased dramatically during in Elizabeth’s reign. In 1581, parliament passed the act of
persuasions which raised the fine for recusancy by 10,000% which amounted to the average income of most
landowning gentry families – the fact that Elizabeth had to put tighter controls on the Catholic community
demonstrates the she, and her government, felt that Catholics did impose a threat onto Elizabeth and her
parliament. However, a majority of Catholics did conform to Elizabeth and her power; the conformers created
no threats to Elizabeth and actually influenced others to follow along with how they were acting because it
made their lives easier. For example, Thomas Tresham was a wealthy member of the gentry who worshipped
according to the protestant book of prayer but was still a catholic at heart. Which shows to us that although
there was a large catholic population, Elizabeth was able to control the Catholic community by increasing
restrictions and limiting the power that normal, Catholic people had. The new laws that Elizabeth imposed
could have given those Catholic plotters and recusants more of a motive to create ‘dangerous and uncertain
times’-showing us that Elizabeth bought some of the issues caused by Catholics onto herself. Some may also
argue that Catholics weren’t often to blame for the ‘dangerous and uncertain times’ it was actually Elizabeth.
Edward Campion was a loyal Englishman who believed that Elizabeth had the wrong denomination of
Christianity – but never did anything to directly threaten Elizabeth. However, to Elizabeth religion and politics
couldn’t be separated and sentenced Campion to a traitor’s death. Campion created no imminent threats to
Elizabeth’s reign or life but she may have caused some herself by murdering someone well-known by the
Catholic community. This may have given more. Power-hungry Catholics an inspiration to plot against her
which created ‘dangerous and uncertain times’ for her and her power. Elizabeth was the queen and, at those
times, the monarch had absolute power because it was believed they were chosen by God – The divine right of
kings. This Power that Elizabeth had made it relatively easy for Elizabeth to deal with threats from some
Catholics, she could get anybody that disagreed with her punished or killed. An example of Elizabeth creating
‘dangerous and uncertain times’ was when John Stubbs wrote a pamphlet criticising the Queen for considering
marriage to a French Catholic – his pamphlet was destroyed and Stubbs was arrested by the government, his
right hand was cut off by a butcher’s knife; after the punishment he was imprisoned. This demonstrates how
easy it was for Elizabeth to punish minor inconveniences, therefore showing us that Elizabeth would be able to
deal with more dangerous Catholic threats, without major threats to her ultimate power.
However, others may argue that Catholics did create ‘dangerous and uncertain times’ during Elizabethan
England. The most influential catholic during the Elizabethan period was the Pope, who single-handedly
presented Elizabeth with one of the largest threats to her throne throughout her reign. In 1570, Pope Pius V
excommunicated Elizabeth from the catholic church. This became a major threat to her power because it gave
more Catholics reasons to dislike her, which could have caused more Plots against her to be created. In 1580,
Pope Pius said that it would not be a sin for any catholic to murder Elizabeth and anyone who killed the Queen
would be ‘obeying God’s wishes’. These statements from the Pope will have given a new motive to plotters
who already believed that she wasn’t the rightful Queen since her excommunication in 1570, and also those
who already weren’t prepared to wait for Elizabeth’s natural death because they felt they had a duty to God to
replace her with Mary Queen of Scots. Mary was, to many, the biggest threat Elizabeth faced during her 44-
year reign. Mary was next in line to be Elizabeth’s successor, with a strong claim to the Throne because she
directly descended from Henry VII and Mary was a catholic Monarch. There were many Plots -such as the
Babington Plot- which linked Mary to be involved (although it was later discovered that evidence was actually
falsified); coded letters in which Mary and plotters were communicating through were discovered by
Walsingham’s spies. This discovery led to Mary being put on trial, her being found guilty and being executed on
the 8th of February 1587. The fact that Elizabeth went through with the execution of her cousin demonstrates
