WI: Queen Elizabeth I was assassinated in 1571

You posted the exact same thread there, only a day ago. Give some time to people answering it.

Basically, the plot was essentially based on wishful thinking and even if by miracle Elizabeth was murdered, something that is already in the realm of Hugely Unlikely given the incompetence level of everyone involved, Mary's chances would have been small and limited at best.

I could see the royal court manging from a wide effect of popular union against conjurees, and probably the closest english relative of Elizabeth (my knowledge of this era being limited, I can't give a name) being crowned or at least considered as regent.

What would remain of English Catholics is going to know an huge wave of persecution, but again, I can see a large popular movement in favor of this.
 

Razgriz 2K9

Banned
The closest English-born claimant (or at least the closest) would be Henry Hastings, the Earl of Huntingdon. So if Elizabeth does die, it would probably advance himself to take the throne. Plus if the plot succeeded he would be young enough to start trying to get an heir (he died childless and his title was passed to his younger brother George.)

Still, this is Elizabeth I we're talking about...she's too competent to get caught in a trap like that.
 
I suspect the remaining English catholics would be wiped out in an anti-catholic pogrom

Yeah gotta agree with you there. Well maybe not all Catholics (they were still a fairly large minority, like 10 to 20% during the late 16th and early 17th centuries) but the vast majority would either die, convert or flee to the continent.
 
Yeah gotta agree with you there. Well maybe not all Catholics (they were still a fairly large minority, like 10 to 20% during the late 16th and early 17th centuries) but the vast majority would either die, convert or flee to the continent.

In 1571, there were a lot more Catholics than that. They most likely formed the majority of the population in 1558, and barely a decade later, the new Anglican faith was just in its infancy. I've read that in the first half of Elizabeth's reign, there was a severe shortage of qualified Anglican clergy. Many parishes outside London had to scramble to find priests, and often ended up ordaining men who were illiterate and often didn't even know some basics of the faith like the Lord's Prayer. These ersatz priests often served in regions that were still sympathetic to Catholicism, and did not do a lot to help convert the masses.

Elizabeth reigned long enough for the Church of England to truly find its footing throughout the country, and replace the unqualified clergy with competent ones, but that was a gradual process. If she had died in 1571 and had been replaced by a Catholic, her influence could have been undone. England in 1571 could potentially still return to Catholicism. It's not guaranteed to be Protestant no matter what, like it was a century later under James II.
 
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