Chapter Five

Chapter Five Introduction | Year 9 role play: Murder at Sarajevo |
Year 8 History Play, The French Revolution, ‘The Terror’ | Elizabethan role play: Elizabethan religion | Bibliography

Elizabethan role play

Elizabethan religion: Character A: Noah Misery (a Puritan)

Your character and background

You were born in the village in 1510, and grew up as a good Catholic under ‘good King Henry’ as you like to call him. After the ‘Break with Rome’ you support what the King has been doing. In particular, you agree with his Protestant ideas, especially the reading of services in English, making the Bible more easily available to ordinary people, and having the King as head of the Church of England. Now you hate Catholics, and were very angry about Queen Mary burning more than 300 good Protestants. You are hoping that Queen Elizabeth will help Protestants and go even further than Henry. You are a well-educated merchant and read a lot of religious books – and you don’t mind letting people know about it! You are regarded locally as a bit of a snob, especially as you lecture them on how drinking, swearing and working on Sunday are sins and will send them to Hell.

Your views

• You are loyal to Queen Elizabeth but you also favour the works of John Calvin.
• You favour simple services for people like you, with long sermons, plain churches and regular church-going.
• You hate dancing, singing and games of any kind (especially on a Sunday) – they are the Devil’s work and stop the poor from working!
• The Bible should be in English, and everyone should read the Bible for several hours a day.
• You admire the Church of England, but think that more could be done to make England a ‘godly society’.
• You and your family dress modestly, and see rich clothes and jewels as sinful.

Why you have your views

You like Queen Elizabeth and the Church of England because she is a Protestant, but admire John Calvin because his religion sends people like you (‘the elect’) to Heaven and others to Hell. You hate Catholics because their views offend the Lord and because they might want to kill Protestants in England. You want simple services because decorations and corrupt priests go against the Bible. Dancing, singing and games encourage lustful thoughts and take your mind off God. Bible reading is good for you and stops you from sinning.

Special behaviour

• Try and say ‘God be Praised’ occasionally to show how good you are.
• Pick on what the teacher is wearing – tell him his clothes are too loud and offend the Lord.
• You hate Catholics. If you hear the words ‘Catholic’ or ‘Pope’, hiss occasionally.

Questions

1. Could you tell us about your background?

2. What are your views on the six topics?

3. What do you think Queen Elizabeth should do?

Elizabethan religion:

Character B: Francis Seymour (a Catholic)

Your character and background

You were born in the village in 1510, and were also brought up as a good Catholic. You have become rich as a cloth seller, and in the past you gave lots of money to your local church to make it more decorated and to say ‘masses’ (prayers) for people’s souls. When King Henry started to reform the Catholic Church in England, at first you quietly pleased, because it was quite corrupt and superstitious. But after he established the Church of England, closed all the monasteries and criticised the Pope, you were horrified. In particular, you hate the Protestants for their attacks on your religion and destroying your way of life. You were pleased when all the Protestants were burned recently, and you have been worshipping as a Catholic in secret in the past couple of years. You hope the Queen will let you worship in public soon.

Your views

(a) You are loyal to the Queen, but if the Pope told you to do something which she had forbidden, you might do what he says.

(b) You prefer beautifully decorated churches, Catholic services and no sermons like it always has been.

(c) You see no problem with games, dancing and singing on a Sunday.

(d) The Bible should probably be in Latin so that ordinary people can’t read it and the priest can tell you what to do.

(e) You don’t like the Church of England and would like to see it finished, although you will go there to keep people quiet.

(f) You dress in fine clothes and jewels, and don’t see what the Puritans’ problem is.

Why you have your views

The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church and so what he says goes, no matter what the Queen says. You like beautiful decorations because the Church should look good and show off its power. Games and dancing keep the people happy every week, no matter what the Puritans might think. The Bible is only for rich, well-educated people like you, and not for the ordinary folk. The Church of England has attacked the Pope, who is God’s chosen priest on Earth, and so is illegal. Finally, you like to dress well and show off your wealth.

Special behaviour

• You are a good Catholic – try crossing yourself a few times.
• If you say the Pope, call him your holiness.

Questions

• Could you tell us about your background?
• What are you views on the six topics?
• What should Queen Elizabeth do?

Elizabethan religion: Character C: Paul Goodman (a Protestant)

Your character and background

You were born in the village in 1510 and brought up as a good Catholic. You are a poor tailor but you can read. You welcomed King Henry’s attacks on the Catholic Church in the 1530s, and hoped that some of the monasteries’ wealth would come to you. However, you did not always agree with his ideas on the Church of England, and after he died you were uncertain about which religion you should be. To save yourself, you worshipped as a Catholic in the reign of Queen Mary, but now you are loyal to Queen Elizabeth and are a good Protestant. In religion, you are probably closer to the Puritan Isaiah Barebone, but you don’t really like either him or Ignatius Spencer because they are rich and want to keep you out of their religions.

Your views

(a) You are totally loyal to Queen Elizabeth, but are not sure about what to do with the Catholics.

(b) You like a mixture of church services, and are not especially bothered about how the church looks like. However, you do want a church which looks after ordinary people like you, and you definitely do not want a return to the Catholic Church.

(c) You agree with some of the Puritan (Isaiah Barebone and friends) view of games, drinking and working on Sunday, but are not as bothered about them.

(d) You think that the Bible should be available to everyone.

(e) You are totally loyal to the Church of England, which is trying to use a mixture of Catholic and Protestant ideas. However, you don’t want a church as bare as that offered by the Puritans.

(f) You dress modestly like the Puritans, but again you are not as bothered about this as they are.

Why you have your views

You are loyal to Queen Elizabeth and the Church of England because you respect the Tudors and loved King Henry. You like a mixture of Catholic and Puritan ideas because you can see both sides and have been a Protestant and a Catholic in your time. However, you are not as snobbish as the Puritans, and want all Protestant people who read the Bible to be accepted as equals. You are not bothered about games, drinking and dressing because (unlike the Puritans) you don’t want to cause unnecessary problems.

Special behaviour

(a) Praise Queen Elizabeth as much as you can.

Questions

1. Could you tell us about your background?

2. What are you views on the six topics?

3. What should Queen Elizabeth do?