elizabeth

• Key People


  • Queen Elizabeth I
  • King Philip II
  • Pope Pius V
  • Mary, Queen of Scots
  • Mary of Guise
  • Sir William Cecil
  • Sir Francis Walsingham
  • Sir Francis Drake
  • Sir Walter Raleigh
  • The Duke of Alba
  • The Duke of Parma
  • The Duke of Medina-Sidonia
  • Thomas Percy
  • Charles Neville
  • Thomas Howard
  • Roberto Ridolfi
  • Francis Throckmorton
  • Anthony Babington
  • Duke of Alencon
• Problems from 1558-66


  • Legitimacy
  • Gender and heir
  • Finances
  • French alliance with Scotland (Auld Alliance) and Mary Queen of Scots link to France
  • Calais returned to France
  • Religious settlement
  • Puritan Challenge
  • Recusants fail to attend the new church
• Problems from 1566-88


  • Dutch rebelling against the Spanish (Dutch Revolt)
  • Mary Queen of Scots in England
  • Revolt of the Northern Earls
  • Further plots (Ridolfi 1571, Throckmorton Plot 1583, Babbington Plot 1586)
  • Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
  • England and Spain clash over Netherlands
  • Spanish Armada attack
• Elizabethan society worked on a clear social structure
• Elizabethan social structure


  • Nobility (including Queen)
  • Gentry
  • Yeoman
  • Tenant farmers
  • Landless or labouring poor
  • Vagrants
• In towns the importance of jobs was based on the wealth it created
• Divine Right


  It was believed that god had chosen the monarch to rule
• Powers of the monarch

  • Declare war
  • Dismiss parliament
  • Reject parliament's laws
  • Grant titles or positions to people (patronage)
• Secretary of State


  Elizabeth's most trusted privy council member
• Roles of the government

  • Monarch
  • Parliament
  • Raise extraordinary taxes in an emergency
  • Approve some laws
  • Royal Prerogative (foreign policy, monarch's marriage and succession)
• Elizabeth's character and strengths

  • Intelligent with excellent grasp of politics
  • Spoke multiple languages
  • Understood court politics and betrayals
  • Had a temper that people feared
  • Persuasive and spoke confidently
  • Sometimes took a long time to make a decision
• Legitimacy


  To be a legitimate monarch, parents were expected to be married
• Elizabeth's parents Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn had been married, but Henry had only married Anne after divorcing his first wife Catherine of Aragon</b>
• Many Catholics didn't accept Elizabeth as queen as the Pope hadn't agreed to Henry's divorce
• It was still unusual to have a queen rather than a king, and religion taught men should have authority over women
• Elizabeth's sister Mary I had been hated by many due to her actions as queen
• Finances


  Elizabeth could raise money through land rents, taxes, special emergency extra taxes (subsidies), fines or loans, but parliament had to agree
• England was still £300,000 in debt in 1558, which was a huge sum
• Defending England was costly and raising taxes was unpopular
• Relying on parliament to help raise taxes was risky as they grew in power
• Auld Alliance


  France's alliance with Scotland
• Mary Queen of Scots (Elizabeth's cousin) had a claim to the English throne and was married to the French heir
• Mary of Guise had placed French troops near the English border in Scotland
• Elizabeth wanted to regain the port of Calais from France
• Reformation


  Reforming the church (changing it to Protestant)
• Differences between Protestantism and Catholicism

  • Protestantism: No Pope, Bible and services in English, direct relationship with God, priests not special, plain churches
  • Catholicism: Pope is head, Bible and services in Latin, need Church to forgive sins, priests are special, decorated churches
• Most of the country was Catholic in 1558, and many Catholics wouldn't accept Elizabeth as queen
• Most bishops were Catholic and would resist changing religion
• The north of England was strongly Catholic, while the south was Protestant
• Puritans


  Dedicated Protestants who wanted to purify religion and remove all traces of Catholicism
• Elizabeth's Religious Settlement 1559


  A compromise that both Catholics and Protestants could accept
• Elements of Elizabeth's Religious Settlement

  • Act of Supremacy (made Elizabeth head of the Church)
  • Act of Uniformity (ordered same appearance for all churches, everyone to attend, common prayer book in English)
  • Royal Injunctions (instructions on carrying out the settlement, clergy to teach monarch as head of Church, no preaching without license)
• 8000 out of 10,000 priests took the Oath of Supremacy, but only 1 Catholic bishop out of 28
• The new prayer book helped keep both Catholics and Protestants happy
• Some Protestants became violent in their enthusiasm and destroyed Catholic decorations
• Elizabeth did not want people's beliefs being investigated too closely to avoid angering Catholics
• Crucifix controversy


  Puritans did not like the crucifix as it was an unneeded Catholic symbol, but Elizabeth gave in to the Puritans to avoid them resigning
• The Puritan challenge was a key challenge to Elizabeth's Religious Settlement
• Protestant bishops visited churches ensuring the Religious Settlement was followed
• First visits resulted in 400 clergy being fired as not following the Settlement