Pope Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth I of England 1570

On the 25th of February 1570, believing that the rebellion of catholic nobles in the north of England to depose Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, would be successful; Pope Pius V, issued a papal bull entitled "Regnans in Excelsis" in which he declared that "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" described her as a heretic and absolved her subjects from any oath of allegiance that they might have given to her. Roman Catholics that obeyed Elizabeth were also threatened with excommunication.

The result was to increase suspicion against Roman Catholics in England, and the suppression of the Jesuits.