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.
