Pope Pius V’s promulgation of the bull Regnans in Excelsis, excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I of England, was a drastic course of action exacerbated preexisting tensions between recusant Catholics and the established regime and ushered in a new chapter in the diplomatic struggle between the Holy See and England. A result of the bull was a marginalization of English Catholics, painted as loyal to a foreign power before their mother country. Catholic operatives reacted to this marginalization in two different ways. First, they launched attempts to depose Elizabeth. These efforts were led by prominent individuals, such as Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and did little to dispense with popular notions of Catholic disloyalty. Second, were efforts to provide spiritual sustenance to recusant Catholics, which were led by Jesuit priests such as Edmund Campion, S.J., who were smuggled into the country to offer the Sacraments and counter official efforts to suppress Catholicism. These efforts, and those who participated in them, placed less of an emphasis on political objectives and instead focused on aiding the suffering Church. These two spheres, and their interactions with the Elizabethan intelligence services, produced a unique geopolitical situation. This poster provides a brief introduction to the key historical circumstances and figures of the period, the research goals of this project, and its preliminary findings and conclusions.