Problems

• Gender


  • People believed that a woman as monarch was unnatural (reinforced by Mary I's violent rule)
  • People thought that she would let her male counsellors take control or she would find a husband to govern for her and that she would only act as a figurehead
• Legitimacy


  • Elizabeth was declared as illegitimate as Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn was not legitimate to the Catholic church
  • 1st July 1536: Elizabeth declared illegitimate by Parliament
  • 1543: restored as heir by Act of Succession but foreign and home powers saw her as illegitimate from an unlawful marriage
• Foreign threat


  • France and England had been enemies for centuries
  • 1558: France and England were at war
  • 1558: England lost Calais - lost important territory on French land
  • Phillip II of Spain was the most powerful ruler in Europe and was strongly Catholic, may organise Catholic countries to attack England if Elizabeth made it Protestant again
• Economy


  • Inherited large debts from Edward VI's wars in Scotland and Mary I's overspending
  • Mary I sold land to pay debts - was good in the short-term but reduced rent income in the long-term
  • Inflation was at high levels as prices went up and wages stayed the same
  • Tax did not work as the poor were paying too much and the nobility did not pay enough
• Marriage


  • She was expected to marry and produce an heir immediately
  • She never married to keep total power and freedom
  • Husband would rule for her and heir would prevent civil war from happening (arguments over claim to the throne)

  Advantages:

  • Complete control of government & religion
  • Kept options open in foreign affairs

  Disadvantages:

  • No heir led to uncertainty which led to plots against her
  • Privy council & MPs felt it made England vulnerable