Boleyn, was one of these many dignitaries. Despite the ideas that rule by a woman was against nature and the holy sacraments, Elizabeth I ruled as the supreme governess of her realm, dealing with the great contempt held against her by soldiers, church officials, and even ordinary subjects.
Elizabeth I pursued her career with bravery, prayer, and political strategies in order to prove her authority as the Queen of England. As a woman, Elizabeth I had many citizens subject to her power that believed she was weak and unable to perform the necessary duties of a monarch. Elizabeth addressed …show more content…
Elizabeth I was not pleased with the religious ideas about women and decreed a reformed Act of Supremacy in 1559, which stated that "The queen's highness is the only supreme governor of this realm...as well as in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things" (Doc. 3). In Document 7, Edward Rishton, a Roman Catholic
Priest, responded to the decrees of Elizabeth I by stating that that Elizabeth's rule was not credible and that it was actually degrading to the Blessed Virgin Mary that her name was printed in small, black letters, while Elizabeth's was in large, red letters. William Tooker, Elizabeth's personal chaplain, lashed back at Rishton in his statement that he has seen "her most serene
Majesty, prostrate on her knees, body and soul rapt in prayer...pressing sores and ulcers, and handling them to health" (Doc. 9). William Tooker's document may also be biased because he was writing it to appeal to his authoritative figure, Elizabeth I. As witnessed in many of the documents from her time, Elizabeth I faced persecution by religious authorities head-on, fighting against their ideas viciously, and, for the most part,