Queen Elizabeth I of England, successor and half sister of Mary I, can be compared to Henry IV, otherwise known as the outspoken Huguenot, Henry of Navarre. Looking from a purely political and religious standpoint, it would seem as though Elizabeth and Henry IV practiced many of the same tactics as politiques and political science masterminds. There monarchies seemed to have a sense of sovereignty and tolerance. Along with their political and religious similarities, both Elizabeth and Henry held a relatively similar level of esteem socially as well. .
Queen Elizabeth I and Henry IV were both poltiques of their day, however both used their power as a politique to promote a distinct religious standpoint. From the onset as Queen, Elizabeth was forced to deal with the ramifications of a religiously divided country, which was caused by her father Henry VIII's separation with the Roman Catholic Church. Elizabeth, wanting to subordinate religious to political unity, centralized the Episcopal system by taking a middle of the road stance between the Catholics and the Protestants. While she secured the traditional Catholic ritual, at the same time she also was able to define the protestant doctrine. This middle of the road approach was the inspiration for the birth of the Anglican Church. However Elizabeth was not without bias, her favor towards Protestants motivated her to draft the Act of Supremacy, which repealed all anti-protestant legislation that had once been instated by Mary I. The majority of Elizabeth's religious struggles came from religious extremist groups such as the Puritans, who felt Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, should replace Elizabeth. Elizabeth countered such Catholic extremists with the Conventicle Act of 1593, stating that separatists who resisted accepting the practices of the Church of England faced exile or execution. Henry IV was also a politique, placing political accord above religious unity.
