After the radical reformism of Edward VI's reign, and the Catholic counter-reformation of Mary I, Elizabeth I had to tread a careful path on her accession to the English throne in 1558. Her first Archbishop of Canterbury was Matthew Parker, who sought to retain some of the practices of the pre-Reformation Church, in the face of opposition from some of his more reform-minded colleagues. An 'anti-vestiarian' group wanted to abandon clerical vestments completely, but in a set of instructions called the 'Book of Advertisements', he ordered in favour of their continued use. However, the Queen refused to endorse any hardline approach, and so a mixed solution was used, in which the surplice (the most basic of the vestments) was to be used in parish churches, and the cope only enforced for…
157 words