Which religion was followed by Queen Elizabeth I?

Okay, let's talk about Queen Elizabeth I and her religion. This is a really important period in British history because it shaped the Church of England as we know it today. Before Elizabeth, England had swung back and forth between Catholicism and Protestantism under different monarchs. Henry VIII, Elizabeth's father, famously broke with the Catholic Church to get a divorce and established himself as head of the Church of England. Then, Mary I, Elizabeth's half-sister, tried to bring England back to Catholicism, and she was pretty ruthless about it, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary." When Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, she aimed for a more moderate approach. She re-established the Church of England, but it wasn't exactly the same as her father's. She wanted to find a middle ground that would appeal to as many people as possible, a sort of "protest"-ant middle ground. So, while she wasn't Catholic, she also wasn't an extreme Protestant. This is why "Protestant" is the correct answer; her reign firmly established the Church of England as a Protestant institution, distinct from the Catholic Church.