Court and Parliament

• Elizabeth's family:

  • daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII
  • older sister- Mary
  • younger brother- Edward VI (became King at 9)
• Elizabeth was educated by Catherine Parr, who taught her 7 languages
• Elizabeth became Queen in 1558, aged 25
• Parliament:

  • House of Lords- 100,000 lords, bishops and judges
  • House of Commons- 450 MPs
  • only called on when Elizabeth wanted to raise taxes to fund a war
  • called on 13 times in her reign
• Privy Council

  • 19 of Elizabeth's most trusted advisors
  • 11 in 1600
  • appointed most powerful landowners to not risk a rebellion
  • dealt with military and foreign affairs
  • hard for Elizabeth to refuse issues the Council agreed on
  • led by Secretary of State
• Justice of Peace

  • gentry
  • judges
  • dealt with crime
  • 2 JPs needed to give a death sentence
• Lord Lieutenants

  • admin rose
  • ensuring taxes were paid across the country
• Elizabeth's Court

  • 1000 people
  • lords, ladies in waiting, servants
• Why did Parliament pressure Elizabeth to marry?

  to produce an heir, for strong alliances, thought she might die of smallpox
• 1566- Elizabeth bans Parliament from discussing her marriage

  Peter Wentworth was arrested for saying that MPs should get to comment on what they like
• Why did Elizabeth choose not to marry?

  to keep power, marrying an Englishman would create tension in the Privy Council, marrying a foreign prince meaning England could fall to foreign rule
• The Northern Rebellion (1569)

  • Westmorland, Northumberland, Duke of Norfolk
  • plan to make Mary Queen and marry Norfolk
  • 4600 men marched North
  • held an illegal Catholic mass at Durham Cathedral
  • Essex sent an army to stop them
  • Westmorland fled, Northumberland executed
• Ridolfi Plot (1571)

  • Italian banker- Ridolfi and Duke of Norfolk
  • execute Elizabeth
  • Mary marry Duke of Norfolk
  • plot discovered by Elizabeth's spy network
  • Norfolk was arrested and beheaded
• Throckmorton Plot (1583)

  • Throckmorton- a French Catholic
  • to invade England
  • Catholic uprising
  • Elizabeth killed and Mary made Queen
  • Walsingham discovered the plot
  • Throckmorton executed
• Essex Rebellion (1601)

  • Earl of Essex
  • 1600- Queen refused to renew his monopoly of sweet wine
  • he was sent to Ireland to deal with leaders but made a truce with them and knighted people
  • marched with 200 men
  • took 4 Privy Council members hostage
  • Essex was privately executed
• William Cecil:

  • Protestant
  • studied law at Cambridge
  • Secretary of State- 1558
  • spoke his mind, loyal
  • Elizabeth relied on him
• Francis Walsingham:

  • studied law at Cambridge
  • Puritan
  • loyal
  • could speak many languages
  • 1573- Privy Council
  • Secretary of State
• Robert Dudley:

  • spent some of Mary's reign locked in the Tower of London
  • suspected romance with Elizabeth
  • 1562- Privy Council
  • Puritan
  • 1564- Earl of Leicester
• Duke of Anjou:

  • one of Elizabeth's suitors
  • led Protestant rebels in the Netherlands
  • Elizabeth sent him £60000 to support him ambition to become King of the Netherlands
• King Philip II of Spain:

  • used to be married to Mary
  • Catholic
  • marriage to marry was a disaster
  • Elizabeth turned him down immediately