Chapter 19 - Liz's government

Created by

Jacob Xavier

Cards (19)

Courtiers (Table in document):
Lord Burghley (William Cecil) - secretary of state from 1558
Hatton
Raleigh
Robert Devereux (Earl of Essex)
Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester)
Robert Cecil - secretary of state from 1596
Francis Walsingham
Areas of the court:
Privy chamber
Access here was controlled by Liz’s Genltemen Usher
Gentlemen of the Privy chamber had less access than they had previously had.
The fact liz was a woman meant she had female attendants and made access far more limited although was rarely alone
Presence chamber
Everyone at court had access here
Was a great hall where the monarch gave audience and where entertaining and socialising took place
Access to other parts of the palace depended on status and relations with the Queen
Lord chamberlain oversaw court and was normally a nobleman of relation to the Monarch
Privy council membership varied from 19 → 11
Liz kept 10/39 of Mary’s privy Councillors and added 9 of her own.
Met 3 times a week in 1560’s
Met 6-7 times a week in 1590’s as Liz became older and had less direct control
Functions of the privy council:
Acted as a court of law when doing the role of Star Chamber.
Acted as a board when dealing with issues like local administration
Enforce religious settlement of 1559
instruct JPs
oversee national defence by supervising training and serving as Lord Lieutenant with militia responsibilities in counties
Oversee operation and appeals from regional councils like Council of the North
Manage crown’s finances (lord treasurer + Chancellor of Exchequer)
Discuss matters of state and offer policy advice
The Spanish ambassador claimed William Cecil was ‘the man who does everything’
William Cecil was Elizabeth's most important minister.
Elizabeth would not let him retire and remained politically active until his death in 1598 even though he had been secretary of State since 1558
Elizabeth's only conservative councillors were Sussex and Christopher Hatton
Elizabeth lost lots of her councillors quickly
1588 - Dudley died
1590 - Walsingham died
1591 - Hatton died
1598 - William Cecil died
There was only limited factional rivalry in Liz's goverment.
William Cecil and Robert Dudley disagreed only over marriage
Robert Cecil and Robert Devereux had a more major rivalry
After Robert Dudley's death in 1588, Essex was given a monopoly over Sweet Wines but this was not renewed in 1600
in 1598 there was a heated debate over the position of Lord deputy in Ireland between Robert Cecil and Essex, leading to essex half-drawing his sword on the Queen.
in April 1599 Essex led 16,000 troops to put down a rebellion in Ireland but ended up siding with rebel leader Hugh O'Neil (Earl of Tyrone)
in 1599 Essex deserted his post in Ireland, returned to London and burst into the queen's bedchamber
He was then charged with treason and placed under house arrest
in 1600 Essex planned a coup in London and wrote to James VI asking for support for Robert Cecil's removal from power
300 supporters gathered at his house on 7th February 1601
He later surrendered and was executed
Elizabeth held 13 parliament's throughout her reign
Parliament passed 438 acts, the most important being to do with religion and the poor
11 of Elizabeth's 13 parliaments were used to grant revenue (varying between ordinary and extraordinary)
The queen did have resort to raising extraordinary revenue to pay for 'normal' crown expenditure
Failure to reform taxation meant revenue from ‘the subsidy’ also declined in real terms
Elizabeth had outbursts in parliament in 1563 and 1566 when they brought up the topic of the succession
Wentworth was imprisoned in 1593 for arguing for a named successor
Liz also refused royal assent of over 60 bills, 15 of which coming in 1585
Golden speech - 1601
Elizabeth made this speech at the end of her reign to express her love of the English people
Robert cecil was secretary of state from 1596 onwards