elizabethan england 1590s

• Plague outbreaks


  1590-1594
• Series of bad harvests

  1590s
• Series of bad harvests details

  *Worst years: 1594-1597

  *Food prices doubled, especially for bread

  *Increased poverty, begging, and resentment

  *Made the Poor Laws urgent and necessary
• Plague outbreaks details


  *Theatres shut for long periods (1592-1594)

  *Thousands died, especially in towns

  *Shows worsening living conditions in urban areas

  *Contributed to rising poverty and vagrancy
• Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, joins the Privy Council

  1591
• Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, joins the Privy Council details

  *Young and ambitious favourite of Elizabeth gains political power

  *Seen as a rival to William Cecil's son, Robert Cecil

  *Beginning of factional rivalry at court

  *Essex would later challenge Elizabeth's authority
• Stature of Confinement


  1593
• Stature of Confinement details

  *This restricted Catholics from travelling more than five miles from their home without permission from the authorities and banned gatherings of Catholics
• Act against Puritans


  1593
• Act against Puritans details

  *Elizabeth passed harsh laws to suppress extreme Protestants

  *Leaders of Puritan underground churches could be executed

  *Shows Elizabeth also saw radical Protestants as a threat, not just Catholics

  *Reinforced her desire for religious uniformity
• Closing of all theatres

  1593
• London apprentice riots


  1585
• London apprentice riots


  *Violent protests and unrest among London's poor and apprentices

  *Angry at rising prices and lack of jobs

  *Showed growing social instability

  *Elizabeth's government saw urban youth as a threat to order
• Closing of all theatres details

  *By the 1590s, an estimated 15000 people visited the London theatres each week

  *People believed that with such large crowds of people gathered together, diseases would spread

  *All theatres were closed in 1593 because of the fear that the large crowds would help spread the bubonic plague
• Spanish Armada attempt (second Armada)

  1596
• Spanish Armada attempt (second Armada) details

  *Spain launched another armada, but it was destroyed by storms

  *Third attempt came in 1597, also failed

  *Though the original Armada was in 1588, threats continued

  *Spain remained a persistent Catholic danger
• Capture of Cadiz


  1596
• Capture of Cadiz details

  *Boosted Essex's popularity

  *Angered Elizabeth when he disobeyed orders

  *Shows court rivalry between Essex and Cecil.

  *Example of how military glory = political power
• Proclamation against enclosure


  1596
• Proclamation against enclosure details


  *Government issued orders to stop illegal enclosure of land

  *Landowners had enclosed common land, displacing the poor

  *Attempt to tackle rural poverty and rebellion risk

  *Shows how economic inequality was growing
• Poor Law Act


  1597
• Poor Law Act details

  *Government passed a law requiring local parishes to help the poor

  *Introduced poor rate taxes, apprenticeships, and work for the unemployed

  *Start of a national poor relief system

  *Response to rising poverty, harvest failures, and unemployment
• Spanish Armada attempt (third Armada)

  1597
• Spanish Armada attempt (third Armada) details

  *Another failed attempt by Spain to invade England

  *Again disrupted by storms and bad organisation

  *Showed Spain remained hostile, but England's navy and weather stayed dominant
• Parliament demands reform


  1597
• Parliament demands reform details

  *Parliament became more vocal about social issues, especially poverty

  *Debated changes to the Poor Laws and local government duties

  *Parliament becoming more assertive, less deferential to Elizabeth

  *Marks shift in royal-Parliament relations
• Death of William Cecil

  1598
• Death of William Cecil details

  *Elizabeth's chief advisor and most trusted minister died

  *Marked a power shift to his son Robert Cecil

  *Elizabeth lost her most experienced counsellor during a time of crisis
• Essex appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

  1598
• Essex appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland details

  *Sent to crush Tyrone's Rebellion in Ireland

  *Disobeyed orders, made a truce with rebels, and returned without permission

  *Seen as a major failure and act of defiance

  *Marked Essex's fall from favour
• Essex's return and house arrest

  1599
• Essex's return and house arrest details

  *He returned from Ireland without permission and burst into Elizabeth's chamber

  *Put under house arrest and stripped of political power.

  *Escalated court tensions

  *Humiliated Essex — led to rebellion
• Robert Cecil becomes secretary of State

  1599
• Robert Cecil becomes secretary of State details

  *Following his father's death, Robert Cecil becomes Elizabeth's key advisor

  *Marks a power shift away from favourites like Essex

  *Cecil steered policy through Elizabeth's final years
• Globe Theatre opens


  1599
• Globe Theatre opens details

  *Shakespeare's Globe Theatre opened in Southwark, London

  *Major cultural achievement

  *Reflects the lasting popularity of drama despite plague and hardship

  *Symbol of Elizabethan Golden Age