No ecclesiastical decision would please all the people because the Reformation encouraged differences of opinion. John Jewel, the bishop of Salisbury, was a representative of those who believed in a national Protestant Church. An exile during Mary’s reign because he would not attend mass, he returned to write an Apology for the Anglican Church, which gave him a reputation abroad and was so acceptable in England that it was distributed among the parish churches. In his book, he maintained the antiquity of the Anglican religion as older than Roman Catholicism. Elizabeth found herself between two extreme factions, neither of which was pleased with the decisions of the queen. The Catholics, disappointed over her failure to approve the old religion, plotted to replace Elizabeth with Mary, Queen of Scots. They accepted invitations to meet secretly in the houses of the faithful for mass and welcomed Jesuit priests from France. On the other hand were Separatists like the Puritans, whose leaders had mostly been exiles at Geneva during Mary’s reign. At first, they applauded the changes that the queen made, but they were not satisfied when she refused to go further. They wished to purge the church of all Catholic influences. One-third of the 98 clergymen in London gave up their livings and renounced their Anglican membership. Thomas Cartwright, a professor at Cambridge, became recognized as the chief exponent of Puritanism, but not all Puritans were ready to follow his desire to abolish bishops in favor of presbyteries. Most Puritans preferred to stay in the Church of England, if possible, but they wished to improve it.
Impact: Neither the Catholics nor the Separatists could gain a strong foothold and many came to the New World where they could more successfully and easily practice their religion.