the membership of the lower house (the house of commons) numbered 402, of whom only a quarter had survived from the previous parliament in the reign of the catholic queen mary. the membership of the upper house (the house of lords), however, still favoured catholicism. after much debate the commons held sway and two important acts were passed into law, the act of supremacy and the act of uniformity. collectively referred to as the elizabethan religious settlement, the former confirmed the break from rome and the latter more protestant practices for the church of england.