Paper 2

• Thomas Seymour marries Catherine Parr after henrys death


  He is attracted to Elizabeth despite being 3x her age
• Seymour cuts up Elizabeth's dress


  As she puts it on he bursts into her room
• Seymour wants to marry Elizabeth


  He wants to use her to make himself more powerful
• Seymour's plan

  1. Abduct king Edward

  2. Put him under Seymour's control
• Seymour was arrested and Elizabeth was bought in for questioning but no evidence could be used against her
• Mary becomes queen in 1553


  She is a strong catholic and restored church ceremonies and services such as mass
• Mary ordered the burning of nearly 300 Protestants which made her unpopular
• Elizabeth hid her religious beliefs and attended mass to appear as a good catholic
• Wyatt rebellion 1554-55
• Rebellion in Kent

  1. 4000 marched to London angry about how Mary was marrying a catholic king, Philip of Spain

  2. Many wanted Elizabeth to become queen as she was Protestant

  3. The rebels were defeated and forced to surrender

  4. The leader Wyatt was arrested and when tortured his claimed Elizabeth supported the rebellion

  5. She was then arrested and sent to the Tower of London

  6. When executed Wyatt claimed Elizabeth was not involved but kept her imprisoned until released as no evidence was found
• Elizabeth wanted to try and find a middle way between Protestants and Catholics
• Elizabeth was a Protestant but had moderate beliefs and refused to bully Catholics
• Elizabeth was a fan of plays and encouraged the building of theatres
• Elizabeth enjoyed watching performances, including those by William Shakespeare
• From the 1580s, Elizabeth cracked down on Catholics


  She feared that they were helping her enemy, Spain, to plot against her
• A number of Catholics were executed for treason
• Puritans were free to get on with their own lives but were punished harshly if they spoke out against Elizabeth's middle way
• Elizabeth never marries and was good at resisting pressure from Parliament to do so
• Elizabeth later created the image of herself as the 'virgin queen' who was only married to England
• Elizabeth was careful to control her public image
• Portrait painters had to use a template and therefore Elizabeth always looked young and strong in paintings even when she was an older woman
• Elizabeth was a fan of dancing and music
• Brilliant musicians were encouraged at her court and this was a great age for English music
• Elizabeth made sure she chose her best advisers
• Sir Francis Walsingham set up a large network of spies and secret agents who collected information and helped protect the queen from plots to remove her
• During Elizabeth's reign many new grammar schools and university colleges opened
• For boys from well-off families, there were more opportunities for education than ever before
• Elizabeth faced a number of plots

  This was partly because her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, was seen by many Catholics as a possible replacement
• Elizabeth had Mary Queen of Scots locked up but delayed ordering her execution for as long as possible
• England was threatened by the Spanish Armada in 1588
• Elizabeth: '"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king"'
• Walter Raleigh set up the first English colony in North America, the area was named Virginia after Elizabeth the 'virgin queen'
• Very few of Elizabeth's people were able to travel to London to see her, so Elizabeth decided to go on tours around the country
• These tours were called progresses and took place in the summer
• Elizabeth visited the Midlands and the South East
• Elizabeth used the possibility of marriage as a way of making alliances with foreign rulers
• Elizabeth tried to avoid direct war with other countries
• She preferred to play countries off against one another so that no single ruler became too powerful