Queen, Government and Religion.

• • The war with France impacted the royal treasury. England had £300,000 of debt. The harvest in 1555 was very poor, leading to poverty and disease
  • Mary was a devout Catholic. She persecuted England's  Protestants. She burned 300 people to death for their religious beliefs
  • Mary's failures as a monarch had convinced many people in England that queens should not rule alone
• Elizabeth was well educated - she spoke Latin, Greek, French and Italian. This meant she could speak to ambassadors and leaders all across Europe.
• Elizabeth was confident and charismatic - this enabled her to win over her subjects and command support in Parliament. She gained the people's trust.
• England in 1558 was poor

  • Mary I and Philip II of Spain began a war with France over certain regions of France and Italy
  • Mary sold Crown land to pay for the war 
  • The war did not achieve its aims. It had wider consequences for England's claim on Calais
• • By 1558, England had £300,000 of debt
  • In comparison, England's annual income was roughly £287,000
• Since, the 1540's the crown had debased the coinage, by reducing silver and gold content, to make more money to fight wars against France. This resulted in inflation, as the value of the currency fell.
• The queen could convene parliament and ask for subsidies. Thus, raising taxes.
• However, a disadvantage to raising taxes is that it would be unpopular with ordinary people, increasing the risk of unrest.
• Monarchs could raise money through customs duties. This was a tax on goods coming into the country.
• Monarchs could raise money through crown lands. They would sell them to the highest bidder.
• Elizabeth also raised money from private loans. These were called 'benevolences'. Wealthy individuals lent money to the government at interest rates of up to 10%.
• Crown lands were land owned by the monarchy. The Crown Lands Act (1569) allowed Elizabeth to sell off some of her estates to pay off debts. She sold over half of all royal lands between 1558-1588.
• By 1574, the queen could claim that the Crown was out of debt for the first time since 1558.
• Elizabeth did not raise taxes but instead hoarded her income and cut her household expenses by half.
• England's relationship with other European powers worsened the challenges to Elizabeth I's succession
• England was not considered powerful in this period, having suffered a number of military defeats to France, Spain and Scotland
• By 1558, England only held Calais in Northern France, having lost most of its territory in France
• Spain was the most powerful Catholic country in Europe, with a large and expanding empire in the Americas
• England was £300,000 in debt, while Spain was the wealthiest European power
• England had an alliance with Spain through the marriage of Mary I to Philip II of Spain
• As a Protestant, Elizabeth's decisions could affect England's relationship with Catholic Spain
• Scotland had its own monarch and the border between Scotland and England moved constantly throughout the medieval period
• It was not until the Act of Union in 1707 that England and Scotland joined together as the United Kingdom of Great Britain
• France

  • Wealthy
  • Large population
  • Held an alliance with Scotland since 1295
  • Mary, Queen of Scots was half-French and became Queen of France in 1559
• France's power and union with Scotland

  Posed a threat to Elizabeth's rule
• Mary, Queen of Scots


  Declared herself the legitimate queen of England, based on her Catholic faith and close relation to King Henry VII
• Many English Catholics believed that Mary was the rightful heir to the English throne, not Elizabeth
• In 1558, Mary, Queen of Scots was living in France and married to Francis II, King of France
• Mary of Guise, Mary's mother, ruled Scotland in place of her daughter
• The Guise were an important aristocratic family in France
• Scotland's threat to England increased as its northern borders were hard to defend, and it had financial and military support from France
• England had owned all or part of France since the reign of William I in 1066, but permanently lost their claim to France through the taking of Calais in 1558
• England's loss of Calais


  Reduced England's influence on Europe and was a humiliation for the country
• Calais was strategically important for England, as it was the only military base on mainland Europe and a hub for English trade
• After the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559, Spain and France were no longer at war and had the opportunity to pursue an alliance
• Spain and France were both Catholic and wanted the backing of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church
• An alliance between France and Spain threatened England, as they could unite against Elizabeth and European Protestantism
• Both Spain and France had personal grievances with Elizabeth, such as her rejection of Philip II's marriage proposal and Mary, Queen of Scots' belief that Elizabeth was illegitimate
• If Spain and France allied, France could use their alliance with Scotland to invade England from the north, while Spain could use their fleet to invade from the south
• Elizabeth would struggle to defend England from this threat, as the country had £300,000 of debt and would not be able to pay to raise an army