Editing Regnans in Excelsis (section)

==Content==
The bull declared Queen Elizabeth excommunicated and absolved her subjects from any allegiance to her. It also excommunicated any that obeyed her orders.<ref>{{cite book|last=McGrath|first=Patrick|title=Papists and Puritans under Elizabeth I|url=https://archive.org/details/papistspuritansu0000mcgr|url-access=registration|publisher=Blandford Press|location=Poole, England|date=1967|page=[https://archive.org/details/papistspuritansu0000mcgr/page/69 69]}}</ref> Its argument drew on the [[hierocracy (medieval)|hierocratic theory]] of the papacy established by medieval [[canon law|canonists]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Watt|first=John A.|year=1988|chapter=Spiritual and temporal powers|title=The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought c. 350–c. 1450|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521423885|page=422}}</ref>

Pius did not consult any Catholic rulers. Both [[Philip II of Spain]] and the Holy Roman Emperor [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]] disagreed with his approach. Philip thought, correctly, that it would only harden the Crown's treatment of English Catholics.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UDg0F1pit6sC&dq=Regnans+in+Excelsis&pg=PA258 "Regnans in Excelsis", ''Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World''], (John A. Wagner, ed.), Routledge, 2000, {{ISBN|9781579582692}}.</ref> According to [[Evelyn Waugh]], it provided a convenient pretext for those in Elizabeth's court, looking for an excuse to do so, to persecute Roman Catholics, and they took full advantage of it.<ref>[https://evelynwaughsociety.org/2017/__trashed-2/ Manley, Jeffrey. "Anniversary on Horizon', The Evelyn Waugh Society, February 27, 2017]</ref>

To take effect in church law the bull had to be promulgated. This logistical effort relied on individuals such as [[John Felton (martyr)|John Felton]].