History - Elizabethan era

• Elizabeth faced financial concerns, religious challenges and fear of invasion in 1558
• England's society was hierarchical
• The queen was head of society and government and was seen as deriving her position and power from God
• Privy council -
• privy council - a group of advisors to the monarch who were appointed by the monarch and were responsible for advising the monarch on matters of state
• Elizabeth faced problems because she was : young, unmarried, and seen as illegitimate
• Elizabeth was brought up Protestant
• Illegitimate - A child born of parents not lawfully married to each other
• Challenges at home and from abroad :

  • 1558 England was at war with France and fear of invasion was great
  • War was costly, Elizabeth inherited a debt of £300,000
  • Many in France believed that Mary, queen of Scots should be the ruler of England; she was Roman Catholic and married to the son of the French king
• In 1558 there were religious divisions in England since Queen Mary reintroduced Catholicism pleasing the Catholics but Protestants hoped for a change
• Queen Mary burned 300 Protestants who refused to change their religion, also Protestants rebelled against her after her reintroduction of Catholicism
• Elizabeth sought to restore Protestantism to England but making people change their religion could cause a civil war
• Puritans - extreme Protestants who wanted to return to the church of England and wanted to remove all traces of Catholicism
• Elizabeth created the religious settlement in 1559
• Act of Supremacy - The act that made Elizabeth the head of church
• Act of Uniformity - The act which specified the form of church service which people throughout England had to follow
• Religious settlement terms :

  • A new prayer book was to be used and be in English
  • Some Catholic features we retained e.g. candles, crosses
  • Clergy were allowed to marry
  • Failing to attend Church resulted in a fine of one shilling
• Role of the Church of England :

  • Majority of people went to Church
  • The Church ran schools
  • Peoples lives revolved around the Church : Baptism, death and harvests
• The Religious Settlement was also called the 'Middle way'
• The Protestant Challenge :

  • Puritans were happy that Eliz reintroduced Protestantism but weren't happy with the remaining traces of the Catholic Church
  • Puritans were a minority and Eliz had to consider the rest of the population, e.g. the Catholics
  • Eliz felt save knowing the Puritans would never plot to overthrow her
• The Catholic Challenge :

  • Catholics were upset that the settlement did not permit Latin Mass in services
  • Some Catholics did not attend Church
  • The excommunication gave justification for rebellions against Elizabeth
• Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570
• Mary's arrival in England in 1568 :

  • Mary was Elizabeth's cousin
  • Mary claimed that Elizabeth was not the rightful Queen of England
  • Mary was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne in 1567 because it was thought that she was involved in the murder of her second husband
  • Mary's arrival increased Elizabeth's fear of plots and rebellion
• The Revolt of the Northern Earls was in 1569
• Reasons for Northern Earls Revolt :

  • The Duke of Norfolk planned to marry Mary
  • They wished to restore Catholicism
  • Norfolk wanted to increase the influence of Catholics at court
• Significance of the Northern Earls Revolt :

  • Most Catholics did not join the revolt since Elizabeth was popular and there was no desire to remove her
  • Elizabeth was able to raise a force of 10,000 an indication of the support for her
  • Her force were larger, causing them to retreat
  • Northumberland was executed in 1572
• Duke of Norfolk - Leading Catholic noble, imprisoned after Northern Earls revolt then executed after becoming involved in the Ridolfi Plot
• Duke of Northumberland - Leading northern Catholic noble, executed after Revolt of the Northern Earls
• Duke of Westmoreland - Leading northern Catholic noble, fled to Netherlands after the Revolt of the Northern Earls failed
• The Ridolfi Plot was in 1571 :

  • Mary used Ridolfi to carry messages to the Pope or organise an invasion of England
  • The aim was to assassinate Eliz and place Mary on the throne and restore Catholicism
  • Government spies discovered the plot and the plot was foiled
  • Eliz resisted demands that Mary should be executed
• The Throckmorton Plot was in 1583 :

  • Mary used Throckmorton to contact the Spanish to remove Eliz and make Mary queen
  • Eliz spies were aware of the plot and spied on Throckmorton
  • Throckmorton was arrested and tortured until he confessed
  • There as insufficient evidence against Mary to execute her
• The Babington Plot was in 1586 :

  • Plotters sought to kill Eliz, free Mary and restore Catholicism
  • Letters to and from Mary were found by Eliz's spies
  • Babington, one of the spies was arrested and executed
  • Mary was placed on trial
• Mary was executed in February 1587
• Relations with Spain :

  • Eliz refused to marry Philip of Spain
  • Spanish ambassadors became involved in several plots to remove Eliz
  • Philip of Spain detested Eliz's Religious Settlement
• Privateers - Sailors whose ships were authorised by a government during wartime to attack and capture enemy vessels
• Francis Drake a Privateer attacked Spanish ships and took their treasure and supplies. This angered the Spanish and his circumnavigation resulted in further conflict
• The Spanish feared Drake and nicknamed him 'El Draque'
• Francis Drake - A privateer, first English sailor to circumnavigate the world, he attacked Spanish preparations for the Armada and fought it himself
• In 1585 England sent an army to protect Protestants in the Netherlands
• English involvement in the Netherlands 1585-88 :

  • Eliz disliked the way Protestants in the Netherlands were being treated by Philip
  • After the assassination of William of Orange, Eliz feared the Dutch would collapse, therefore she needed to increase aid to rebels
  • The Treaty of Nonsuch, Eliz agreed to send an army of 7000 to help the Dutch against the Spanish
  • The English army was commanded by the Earl of Leicester - he felt that Eliz didn't spend enough money on this campaign and he was able to slow down the advance of Spanish forces