ABSTRACT
The various scares and plots of the years 1569-72 have so far been viewed as accidental to a general problem of foreign policy, but they were this largely because they arose out of the first positive reaction from Rome to the English schism. This was the bull Regnans in Excelsis, proclaiming Elizabeth's excommunication and deposition, which Pope Pius V issued in February 1570. In many ways it was an unfortunate document. It was incorrect in canon law, inasmuch as it failed to give Elizabeth a chance to defend herself and pronounced the deposition at once instead of letting a year pass after excommunication; the explanation that Elizabeth was only a 'pretended' queen was made nonsense of by the recognition she had received from Rome between 1559 and 1570. The bull displayed a painful ignorance of English affairs, denouncing Elizabeth for taking a title (supreme head) which she had been careful to avoid. The pope published it without reference to Spain, thus depriving himself of the only champion remotely capable of executing it; Philip was gready annoyed both at the bull and at the discourtesy to himself. Pius V, an austere and passionate Dominican, acted from conviction rather than sense. Political considerations did not enter his head: he did what he thought his duty against the heretic queen, but he did it with a precipitancy and neglect of proper form which gave men a chance of evading the issues he had raised. In the event Elizabeth had little difficulty in representing the pope as the aggressor, a view still held by reputable historians. Yet the truth is that Rome had valiantly ignored a series of blatant defiances and concealed attacks: for over ten years catholicism had been outlawed in England, 2Ild though the government were careful to mitigate the rigour of the law in its execution it is impossible not to admit that Rome had a real grievance and had at first shown much misguided patience. The rash, ill-conceived, and far-reaching step of February 1570 reversed the position.
