ABSTRACT
In this chapter the religious landscape of early Elizabethan England will be considered through the eyes of returned exile Edwin Sandys, with particular reference to Elizabethan religious settlement. It has been argued by many scholars of Elizabethan religion that this early period of reform was in fact the only real period of reform, as Elizabeth was ambivalent if not in outright opposition to further change. This chapter will look at what role the returned exiles played in the 1559 settlement. Sandys was appointed to the Northern Commission on his return from exile, tasked with enforcing the new settlement in the North. He played a significant role, appearing at almost all the sessions and delivering sermons at many of them. The commission’s remit appeared to have been focused on persuading the population that the new settlement was the best way forward and they offered anyone who was resistant ample opportunity to comply. Sandys’ religious views are made clear via the sermons he gave, both during this circuit of the North and later before Elizabeth I and at St Paul’s Cross. These sermons can be seen as part of this campaign to persuade rather than compel conversion to Elizabethan Protestantism.
