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A Switch of Language: Elizabeth I's Use of the Vernacular as a Key to her Early Protestantism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2012

Ted W. Booth
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Abstract

From childhood Elizabeth was trained in the ‘New Learning’ and brought up under Protestant influences. Her juvenilia attest to this immersion in Protestant and humanist education. The youthful Elizabeth often wrote formal Latin letters in the style of the mediaeval ars dictaminis replete with humanist and Protestant imagery. She continued this style of writing throughout her brother's reign. However, after Parliament passed the Act of Uniformity of 1549, Elizabeth stopped writing formal Latin letters to her brother and switched to formal English ones instead. This essay will argue that this switch was intentional on the part of Elizabeth; and set within the context of the time gives an early clue to Elizabeth's solidarity with her brother's Protestant efforts in England.

Keywords

Elizabeth IvernacularLatinProtestantEdward VIReformation
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Anglican Studies , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , May 2013 , pp. 100 - 113
Copyright
Copyright © The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2012

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Footnotes

1.

Dr Booth is Adjunct Instructor of Church History, Emmanuel Christian Seminary, Johnson City, Tennessee, USA.

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