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Queen elizabeth I Mary I Dudley I SussexShe felt that a united church meant a united country and would therefore give her a more secure hold over the people. Catholic ritual was also retained (e.g. vestments, the position of the altar in the east) and this enabled many more to accept her Church. It also may show that she was trying not to push away Catholics and drive them into opposition, as this would weaken their loyalty to her. However, even though the majority were satisfied with the Church, there were threats from both Puritans and Roman Catholics which can be seen to demonstrate that her hold over England was not totally secure. Some Catholics viewed Elizabeth as illegitimate, "an incestuous bastard, begotten and born in sin”, another threat to the security of Elizabeth's hold over England came with the papal bull "Regnans in Excelsis" in which Pope Pious V excommunicated. Without money she was unable to maintain an army. The lack of war in her early reign reduced expenditure. If no heir was named, then loyalty would be focused on herself only. As a woman, any husband would have inevitably dominated and controlled policy.
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