Queen Elizabeth I vs. Queen Isabella I
...eligious matters. Elizabeth repealed Mary’s Catholic legislation and replaced it with the Act of Supremacy. This new act designated Elizabeth as “the only supreme governor of this realm, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal.” She didn’t care what her people believed privately as long as they didn’t threaten her power. Elizabeth’s policy was similar to Isabella’s in that they both wanted to promote nationalism and obtain absolutism. It was different, however, because she didn’t focus on the religious aspect of it. She didn’t want religion to create a problem with gaining her country’s nationalism. Isabella’s policy was that of a harsh one. In 1469, when Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon got married, they enforced their policy of strict religious conformity. The policy served a political purpose as well. They wanted to create unity in Spain and “further bolster royal power.” To achieve religious uniformity, in 1478 Isabella and her husband Ferdinand asked the pope to introduce the Inquisition into Spain to try and convert the Jews and Muslims into the Christian faith. In 1492, the “Most Catholic” monarchs took a drastic step and expelled all professed Jews from her kingdom. Later in 1502, she also issued a decree expelling all professed Muslims from Spain. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had achieved their goal of religious uniformity. They believed that to be Spanish was to be Catholic. Though Elizabeth and Isabella both wanted to create nationalism in their countries, Elizabeth’s policy was religious toleration, ...