Aislinn Muller's The Excommunication of Elizabeth I: Faith, Politics, and Resistance in Post-Reformation England brings into focus a topic that has often, albeit marginally, been addressed by research. The established narrative has claimed that the excommunication of Elizabeth I by Pius V remained without great effect. Because the Northern Rebellion, which it was supposed to support, had just been put down, the excommunication thus failed its principal purpose. Muller decisively contradicts this assumption and argues that the excommunication of Elizabeth must be seen as part of a broader papal strategy to counter Protestantism in Europe. Moreover, according to Muller, it played a central role in international politics and shaped domestic politics, including the central questions of the queen's marriage and her succession.

Muller approaches her topic from multiple perspectives. In the first chapter, she examines the development of the excommunication in the years after Elizabeth's accession to the throne and explores the question of why Pius V waited until 1570 to excommunicate her. It becomes clear that the decision to go forward with the excommunication was not a rash one solely motivated by the call for help of the Northern lords; instead it was the result of a long process. That it had taken so long was due to the lack of international support. Muller convincingly describes the excommunication in the context of international relations, which broadens the picture and explains why, for example, Philip II of Spain was at first reluctant to support the pope but later relied heavily on the excommunication as a key element legitimizing his war against England. Muller then continues with a detailed and nuanced analysis of the text of the bull itself, demonstrating that it “raised more questions than it tried to answer” (34) and had a profound impact on the life of English Catholics. This is also true for Gregory XIII's confirmation of the bull in 1580, which needs to be seen not only in the context of the Jesuit mission to England but also as indicative of a more aggressive papal strategy against European Protestantism in general.

The established narrative has been that knowledge of Elizabeth's excommunication was not sufficiently widespread in England to have much of an impact. In chapter 2, contrary to this notion, Muller depicts a country deeply unsettled by the bull. She analyzes the Catholic attempts to spread the word about the bull and discuss its implications for English Catholics. Moreover, she highlights the importance of Protestant debates drawing attention to the bull. While pamphlets of Catholic origin discussing the bull were prohibited in England, Protestant pamphlets were not. They even quoted lengthy passages from the bull in order to rebuke it; in consequence, they were thus central in distributing knowledge of the queen's excommunication. In addition, these Protestants debates show, according to Muller, how deeply Elizabeth's excommunication “affected the worldviews of her subjects, infiltrating multiple forms of oral and literary culture” (113). Partly due to the mission of Jesuits and seminary priests, the renewal of the bull in 1580 had more of an impact than the original bull had in 1570.

In chapter 4, Muller examines more deeply the impact of the papal bull on England's foreign and domestic policies. On the one hand, especially from 1580 onward, it helped legitimize any war (or rebellion) by Catholics against (or within) England. On the other hand, Protestant princes tried to use the bull to pressure Elizabeth into an alliance. Moreover, it complicated the issue of Mary Stuart and Elizabeth's succession in general. Muller argues that the government's vilification of the bull was not simply anti-Catholic rhetoric but resulted from a reasonable fear of invasion and rebellion.

In the final chapter, Muller turns her attention to how the excommunication shaped English Catholic views of the queen, thereby drawing a diverse picture: it becomes clear that although they never rebelled against Elizabeth again en masse, they perceived the excommunication as a sincere problem and pursued more indirect forms of resistance. Muller pays special attention to the impact of the bull on Ireland and Irish politics, arguing that the Irish rebellions, which referred to the bull for their legitimation, exhibit the bull's potential to raise resistance against Elizabeth's reign. Muller concludes: “To be sure, the bull did not have the effect Pius V originally envisioned when he pronounced the sentence, but its influence on contemporary discourse and the role it acquired in political strategy had other long-term implications for anti-Catholic sentiment and policy in English history” (146).

By focusing on Elizabeth's excommunication, Muller adds to the debates on Elizabethan foreign policy, the issue of Elizabeth's marriage and succession, Catholic agency, and forms of resistance. It is a central asset of her argument that she takes such a broad perspective examining the bull and its impact from different angles and placing it in the context of international foreign relations, which were becoming increasingly confessionalized. However, one perspective is missing: the queen's. Of course, it is difficult to extract Elizabeth's view on any subject, especially religion, from the sources. Nonetheless, it would have been worth contemplating how she perceived her excommunication. In this context, Muller alludes to the government using the bull to put pressure on the queen; an aspect that could have been developed in greater depth. In general, Muller could have explained more thoroughly how she selected her sources and her methodological approach. While the analysis of the bull and its accompanying documents (chapter 1) is very deep, indeed profound, in later chapters, especially chapter 5, Muller's selection of sources seems a bit eclectic and anecdotal. For example, she does not reflect on the value of the records of seditious speech in the assizes, which would have added more depth to her analysis.

Despite these points, Muller provides an important and clearly argued study that places the excommunication of Elizabeth I in the context of foreign and domestic politics and emphasizes its complexity.