# 1st Parliament of Elizabeth I

Parliaments of England :
Predecessors   Witenagemot 7th – 11th centuries   Curia regis 1066 – c. 1215 :
Henry III   1st 1237   2nd 1242   3rd 1244   4th 1246   3rd 1247   4th 1248   Unnumbered 1251   5th 1252   6th 1253   7th 1254   8th 1255   9th 1258   10th "Oxford/Mad" 1258   11th "Simon de Montfort" 1265 :
Edward I   "Model" 1295 :
Edward II   "Westminster" 1327 :
Edward III   "Good" 1376   "Bad" 1377 :
Richard II   "Wonderful" 1386   "Merciless" 1388 :
Henry IV   "Convention" 1399   "Unlearned" 1404 :
Henry V   "Fire and Faggot" 1414 :
Henry VI   "Bats" 1426   "Devils" 1459 :
Edward IV :
Richard III :
Henry VII :
Henry VIII   "Reformation" 1529–1536 :
Edward VI :
Mary I   1st 1553   2nd 1554   3rd 1554–1555   4th 1555   5th 1558 :
Elizabeth I   1st 1559   2nd 1563–1567   3rd 1571   4th 1572–1583   5th 1584–1585   6th 1586–1587   7th 1589   8th 1593   9th 1597–1598   10th 1601 :
James I  1st "Blessed" 1604  2nd "Addled" 1614  3rd 1621  4th 1624 :
Charles I  1st "Useless" 1625  2nd 1626  3rd 1628  4th "Short" Apr 1640  5th "Long (1) Nov 1640  Oxford/Mongrel 1644 :
Revolution and Commonwealth  1st "Long (2) 1645  2nd "Rump (1)" 1648  3rd "Barebone's/Little/Nominated Assembly/Saints" 1653 :
Protectorate  1st 1654  2nd 1656  3rd 1659  4th "Rump (2)" 1659 :
Commonwealth  1st "Rump (3)" 1659  2nd "Long (3)" 1660 :
Charles II  1st "Convention (1)" 1660  2nd "Cavalier" 1661  3rd "Habeas Corpus/First Exclusion" 1679  4th "Exclusion Bill/Second Exclusion" 1680  5th "Oxford/Third Exclusion" 1681 :
James II  "Loyal" 1685 :
William III and Mary II  1st "Convention (2)" 1689  2nd 1690  3rd 1695  4th 1698  5th Feb 1701  6th Dec 1701 :
Anne  1st 1702  2nd 1705 :
List of parliaments of England List of acts of the Parliament of England
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The 1st Parliament of Queen Elizabeth I was ruled over by Queen Elizabeth I of England on 5 December 1558 and assembled on 23 January 1559. This Parliament would restore many of the laws created by Henry VIII and the English Reformation Parliament. Queen Elizabeth's 1st Parliament passed some 24 public statutes and 17 private measures by the time it was dissolved on 8 May 1559.

## Background

At the state opening of Parliament, the Lord Keeper Sir Nicholas Bacon informed the house that one of the main reasons for summoning the Parliament was to establish a uniform order of religion’. He also drew attention to the recent loss of Calais and the need to maintain England's navy and coastal defences. The speech summarised Elizabeth’s manifesto for the whole of her reign i.e. to restore stability, prosperity and peace to the country. She approved the appointment of Sir Thomas Gargrave, sitting for Yorkshire, as Speaker of the House.
The membership of the Lower House (the House of Commons) numbered 402, of whom only a quarter had survived from the previous Parliament in the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary. The membership of the Upper House (the House of Lords), however, still favoured Catholicism. After much debate the Commons held sway and two essential acts were passed into law, the Act of Supremacy 1558 and the Act of Uniformity 1558. Collectively referred to as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, the former confirmed the break from Rome and the latter more Protestant practices for the Church of England.
A committee was established to guarantee the Queen's financial stability. She was also petitioned to marry and secure the succession, notwithstanding their concern about the approach from Queen Mary's widower, the Catholic King Philip II of Spain, which in the event was rebuffed by Elizabeth.

## Acts

The major pieces of legislation from the Reformation Parliament included:

### Act of Supremacy 1558

This act gave full ecclesiastical authority to the monarchy and abolished the authority of the Pope in England. This act restored a law that had previously been issued by Henry VIII in 1534, and partially repealed by Mary I in 1555.

### Act of Uniformity 1558

Re-introduced the English Book of Common Prayer, with the order of prayer changed to make the Protestant book more acceptable to traditional Catholic worshippers and clergy. It also established that all persons go to Church once a week or suffer a fairly steep fine.

### Treason Act 1558

Declared that directly saying, publishing, declaring, or holding the opinion that the Queen or her heirs are not the rightful Queens or Kings was Treason. Anyone so accused would lose their land and property to the Crown before being imprisoned for the rest of their lives.

### First Fruits and Tenths Act 1558

This Act restored the “First and Tenths”, a tax on the clergy of Great Britain. The clergy would pay a portion of their first year’s earnings, and thereafter pay a tenth of their revenue once per year. This tax had originally been established by Henry VIII to claim money intended for the papacy.