[RobbyS]

Remember that heresy was a state crime and became ever more a burden on the common people in both Catholic and non-Catholic states as government assumed and exercised more and more authority in the area of religion.. A good description of how the Tudor government oppressed the people cna be found in Eamon Duffy's "The Stripping of the Altars, Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580" tells how the Tudor governments, except for the Marian interlude, suppressed popular Catholicism in the kingdom. I have read elsewhere that Elizabeth executed as many Catholics as "Bloody" Mary did, and that her secret service was very effective in suppressing both Catholic and Puritan dissent.

[Conservative4Ever]

Elizabeth I really didn't care which way the populace chose to worship God. She did however have to fight to secure her throne against the Duke of Norfolk (a catholic) and other catholic dissetents wishing to remove her from her throne and place the Duke of Norfolk as monarch. He and his followers felt he had the greater claim. With the help of her loyal supporters they were found out and killed.

Red