elizabethan england

• Justices of the Peace (JPs)

  1. To make sure all social and economic policies were carried out

  2. Heard county court cases every three months for more serious crimes

  3. Part of the local government
• Privy Council

  1. To debate current issues and advise the monarch on government policy

  2. Made sure the monarch’s final decisions were carried out

  3. Oversaw law and order, local government, and the security of England

  4. Monitored Justices of the Peace

  5. Monitored the proceedings of Parliament
• Elizabethan government

  • The court was a body of people who lived in, or near the same palace or house as the monarch
  • The court was mostly made up of members of the nobility who were the monarch’s key servants, advisers, and friends
  • Privy Council was made up of leading courtiers, advisers, nobles, and very senior government officials
  • Parliament was made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons
  • Lords Lieutenant were chosen by the monarch and were in charge of raising and training the local militia and overseeing county defences
  • Justices of the Peace were large landowners who kept law and order in their local areas
• Lords Lieutenant

  1. In charge of raising and training the local militia and overseeing county defences

  2. Oversaw the enforcement of policies

  3. Part of the local government
• Parliament

  1. To grant extraordinary taxation

  2. Passed laws (Acts of Parliament)

  3. Offered advice to the monarch
• Court

  1. To entertain and advise the monarch

  2. A public display of wealth and power

  3. Courtiers had influence with the monarch rather than actual power
• Ways monarchs could raise money

  • Rents and income from their own lands (Crown lands)
  • Taxes from trade (known as customs duties)
  • Special additional taxes known as subsidies, which had to be agreed by parliament
  • Profits of justice (fines, property or lands from people convicted of crimes)
  • Loans (sometimes loans were ‘forced’, meaning they were compulsory and never repaid)
• When Elizabeth took the throne, the Crown was £300,000 in debt in 1558, while the total annual income of the Crown was approximately £286,667
• Monarchs could not do whatever they pleased; they needed money and support to rule successfully
• Ministers groaned at the amount of work she exacted and at having to spend their own money in the public service

  They exclaimed that they must retire, or at least take a holiday; but the Queen could not spare them, and they were with her until they died
• Elizabeth campaigned for her mother, Anne Boleyn, to be remembered in a positive way

  Anne Boleyn had been executed by Henry VIII, but Elizabeth wanted her to be remembered as his greatest love and a martyr to her Protestant cause
• Elizabeth's ministers groaned at the amount of work she exacted and at having to spend their own money in the public service; they exclaimed that they must retire, or at least take a holiday; but the Queen could not spare them, and they were with her until they died
• Elizabeth’s government did not have a lot of money as England had fought costly wars before she became queen and lots of Crown lands had been sold off to raise money to fight them
• The Settlement largely succeeded in establishing a broadly based national Church which excluded as few people as possible, but it failed to attract the Puritans and devout Catholics were likewise marginalised with the consequence of encouraging opposition and non-conformity
• Explain why the Catholic threat to Elizabeth I
• At the end of each chapter, there are recap pages designed to help you consolidate and reflect on the chapter as a whole. Each recap page includes a recall quiz, ideal for quickly checking your knowledge or for revision. Recap pages also include activities designed to help you summarise and analyse what you’ve learned, and also reflect on how each chapter links to other parts of the unit
• This book is also available as an online ActiveBook, which can be licensed for your whole institution
• Components of the ActiveLearn Digital Service

  • Front-of-class version of the book
  • Lesson plans
  • Worksheets
  • Exam practice PowerPoints
  • Assessments
  • Notes on Thinking Historically and Writing Historically
• The Thinking Historically approach has been developed in conjunction with Dr Arthur Chapman and the Institute of Education, UCL. It is based on research into the misconceptions that can hold students back in history
• In those 16 years, hundreds of people would have been put to death by the English government. It is likely that you would have heard about, or even witnessed, the agonies of those being burned alive for their religious beliefs. Holding religious beliefs different from the monarch’s was extremely dangerous. Since the reign of Henry VIII, religion in England had changed with every new king or queen. From November 1558, England’s religion
• You must focus on reasons for the Catholic threat against Elizabeth becoming more serious
• A sample answer has been graded on the Pearson Progression Scale
• There is also an ActiveLearn Digital Service available to support delivery of this book, featuring a front-of-class version of the book, lesson plans, worksheets, exam practice PowerPoints, assessments, notes on Thinking Historically and Writing Historically, and more
• The book includes extra exam-style questions you can use to practise. These appear in the chapters and are accompanied by a tip to help you get started on an answer
• Events related to the Catholic threat against Elizabeth I

  • The Dutch Revolt
  • Mary, Queen of Scots’ arrival in England in 1568
• The Thinking Historically conceptual map can be found at: www.pearsonschools.co.uk/thinkinghistoricallygcse
• Recap pages activities

  • Designed to help you develop a better understanding of how history is constructed
  • Focused on Evidence, Interpretations, Cause & Consequence, and Change & Continuity
• If you were 16 in 1558, when Elizabeth I became queen, you would have already outlived at least 21% of those born in the same year as you. You might also be fast approaching the half-way point of your life, as the average life expectancy was between 28 and 41
• Religion in England changed with every new king or queen since the reign of Henry VIII
• Elizabeth was 25 when she took the throne
• Traitors faced execution, including Elizabeth I who was imprisoned as a traitor in the Tower of London in 1554
• By securing her position as queen and arranging her coronation, Elizabeth became the ultimate source of political and religious power in England
• Elizabethans had a clear hierarchy in society with the monarch at the top, followed by the nobility and gentry
• Elizabethan England was often a violent and dangerous place due to the lack of a police force or permanent army
• In towns, the hierarchy was based on wealth and occupation, with wealthy merchants at the top
• Unskilled laborers and the unemployed were at the bottom of society
• Elizabeth's first task as queen

  To secure her position as queen by arranging her coronation for January 1559 and drawing up plans for England’s religion
• Elizabeth often found her life threatened by plots after becoming queen
• People being burned alive for their religious beliefs was a common occurrence
• England’s religion was decided by Elizabeth I

  November 1558