When Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1558, England was a religious battleground. Ever since the reign of her father, Henry VIII, Protestants and Roman Catholics had been engaged in a virtual civil war. The war had started with Luther's reforms in Germany and spread quickly through Europe and into England. At the heart of this struggle was a conflict over the English-language Bible.
In the early days of her reign, all eyes were focused on Elizabeth to see whether she'd come down on the side of the Protestants or the Catholics. Her immediate predecessor on the throne, Queen Mary, had championed the Catholic cause and had done all she could to chase the Protestants out of England. Many had fled to Geneva, where they turned out the highly controversial Geneva Bible.
As these Protestants gradually returned to England after Mary's death, they had strong hopes that the new queen would embrace their cause—and their new Bible, which was published in 1560. Yet Elizabeth did no such thing. The Genevan exiles had launched too many verbal attacks against the Crown during Mary's reign. And they'd filled the margins of their Bible with notes that often seemed more political than religious, showing disapproval of monarchies and church hierarchy.
