<P> The dynamics of the pre-Reformation bond between the Catholic Church in England and the Apostolic See remained in effect for nearly a thousand years . That is, there was no doctrinal difference between the faith of the English and the rest of Catholic Christendom, especially after calculating the date of Easter at the Council of Whitby in 667 and formalizing other customs according to the See of Rome . The designation "English Church" (Ecclesia Anglicana in Latin) was made use of, but always in the sense of the term as indicating that part of the one Catholic Church in communion with the Pope that was localised in England . Other regions were localised in Scotland (Ecclesia Scotticana), France (Ecclesia Gallicana), Spain (Ecclesia Hispanica), etc . These regional cognomens or designations were commonly used in Rome by staff or officials to identify a locality of the universal church, but never to imply any breach with the Holy See . </P> <P> In 1534, however, during the reign of Henry VIII, the church, through a series of legislative acts between 1533 and 1536, became independent of the pope for a period as a national church with Henry declaring himself Supreme Head . Then, during the reign of Henry's son, King Edward VI, from 1547--53, the liturgical and sacramental life of the English Church was radically altered to the extent that, with its Protestant establishment and leadership, it became a new kind of ecclesial foundation . </P> <P> The English Church was brought back under papal authority in 1553 and doctrinal and liturgical conformity at the beginning of the reign of Queen Mary I . The restoration of papal authority was celebrated by the majority of the nation and enforced by the Marian persecutions against Protestants . Her harshness was a success but at the cost of alienating a fairly large section of English society which had been moving away from some traditional Catholic devotional practices . The English it seems were quite caught up with the reforming movement on the Continent . At the time they were neither Calvinist nor Lutheran, but certainly leaning toward Protestantism (and by the late 16th century, were certainly Protestant). </P> <P> Queen Elizabeth I, a moderate non-ideological Protestant, came to the throne in November 1558 . She was intent upon reversing her half - sister's arrangements . Her accession to the throne was not greeted with enthusiasm: the people had liked Catharine of Aragon and thought of Mary as the rightful, legitimate heir . Nevertheless, Elizabeth was a Protestant and the "very rituals with which the parish had celebrated her accession would be swept away . She shifted the church's teaching and practice in a "reformed" direction, with modifications made in a more Catholic direction in the Act of Uniformity . In 1559, however, the Act of Supremacy proclaimed her Supreme Governor of the Church of England . This caused a rift between Catholics and herself . </P>

Under which monarchy did england temporarily return to catholicism