WI: Elizabeth I keeps England Catholic?

Also, and its difficult for us to put ourselves in that mindset, but the filioque would be a huge obstacle to England going Orthodox.
 

katchen

Banned
Also, and its difficult for us to put ourselves in that mindset, but the filioque would be a huge obstacle to England going Orthodox.
What IS the filioque and why is it a greater obstacle to going Orthodox than the intellectual and emotional leap of going Protestant? :confused::confused::confused:
 

katchen

Banned
Contacts with Russia were limited (there's a reason one of the founders of the Muscovy Company froze to death trapped in sea ice), whereas by Elizabeth's coronation, Protestantism is established not just in Germany and Switzerland, but Scandinavia, and seemed to be a serious threat in France, Scotland and the Low Countries, among other places. That's much better in terms of potential alliance fodder than Muscovy, which would be unable to ever feasibly provide military assistance.

Besides, Protestantism had a preexisting base of support. There were plenty of Protestants and Protestant sympathizers running around. That's critical for a religious conversion. On the other hand, Eastern Orthodoxy would have to be imported, with a whole new set of priests and liturgy created. It would be strictly artificial, and imposed from above.
This is why when I originally came up with the idea, I used a POD of 1498 and a John Cabot expedition discovering a route to Archangelsk and Henry VIII going Eastern Orthodox. Henry was taking a much bigger risk defying the Pope than Elizabeth is.
But while Russia is hard for England to get to, that is a situation that Russia and England can remedy with a joint intervention in the Northern Seven Years War between Sweden and Denmark in 1568 when Sweden and Denmark are both exhausted and King Eric XIV has gone psychotic. The objective is for England, occupation of a few Baltic islands such as Saltholm next to Copenhagen, Bornholm, Gotaland and Aland and Kronstadtthat gives England free passage through the Baltic Sea without constantly embroiling England in continental wars and for Russia, if possible, all of Finland and Estonia as well as Swedish Norrland and Norwegian Nordland to a line from Umea to Mosjoen if possible, but at the very least, from the Russian border to near where the Kemi and Tornio Rivers empty into the Gulf of Bothnia and thence to the Norwegian Sea just south of what is ITTL Narvik. Russia is a lot closer to England and within reach and able to come to England's aid and vice versa if Russia has a port on the open Atlantic Ocean that is ice free year around instead of a port on the White Sea, even if it must be reached by a difficult road through southern Lapland and Karelia. And this is not an area that either Denmark or Sweden can hold against the forces Russia can bring to bear, especially if Russia and England hit Denmark and Sweden together when both nations are down.
In this way, Russia can become an ally that England can depend on when England is menaced by Spain or France and vice versa when Russia is menaced by Sweden or Poland or Brandenburg. It is an alliance that will be tested during Russia's Time of Troubles.
 
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