Elizabethans

• Royal Court


  The centre of political life, around 500 courtiers, moved around the country with Queen Elizabeth I, she used a system of patronage to grant favours to courtiers, her most trusted friends were in the Privy Chamber
• Royal Court


  • Courtiers vied for the Queen's attention, she used propaganda and censorship to show her power and youthfulness into old age, November 17 was a yearly celebration of Elizabeth becoming queen, there were only 60 printing presses in England so it was easy to censor what was published
• Privy Council


  A trusted group of advisors that never numbered more than 19 men, met almost daily at court to help Elizabeth run the country, William Cecil was her main minister for almost 40 years, Sir Francis Walsingham was her spymaster and uncovered plots against her
• The 1590s were a tough decade for Elizabeth
• 1590s


  • Bad harvests, plague, poverty, the long war with Spain was expensive, Cecil and Walsingham had died so she lacked advisors she could trust
• Essex Rebellion


  Elizabeth became entranced by the younger Earl of Essex, he often defied her and had married without her permission, when Cecil died in 1598 Essex wanted to be made Secretary of State but Elizabeth chose Robert Cecil instead, she sent Essex to Ireland in 1599 to subdue Catholic rebels but he made peace with them, she took away his government job leaving him ruined, Essex led a brief rebellion in 1601 but the people sided with Elizabeth and he was executed
• Lord Lieutenant


  A nobleman in each county who reported back to the Privy Council and provided the queen with part-time soldiers when needed
• Justices of the Peace (JPs)


  Unpaid magistrates throughout the country who ensured the smooth running of the country, issued licences, and judged criminal cases at Quarter Sessions
• Elizabethan Parliament


  • MPs were selected by their local lord, the Queen could open and close parliament as she liked, parliament only sat for 3 years out of her 45 year reign, between 1580-1603 parliaments were called more often because Elizabeth needed help paying for the war against Spain, the Privy Council decided the agenda and Elizabeth decided what topics parliament could discuss: religion, marriage, Elizabeth's replacement, and foreign affairs could not be discussed
• Puritan opposition


  • Strict Protestant MPs called Puritans started to ask for more political power, they were especially worried that the Queen might die without a Protestant successor, they wanted complete freedom of speech for MPs, in 1579 the Puritan MP John Stubbs had a hand cut off for writing a leaflet criticising the potential marriage of Elizabeth and the Catholic Duke of Anjou, two Puritans had been hanged in 1583 for suggesting this, in 1593 Peter Wentworth MP was imprisoned for demanding Elizabeth name her successor, Puritans wanted to reform the church but Elizabeth banned the debate, they also criticised the Queen for favouring people with monopolies and about purveyances
• Elizabeth retained total control over parliament, deciding when it was held and what it could discuss, backing this up with murder, mutilation and imprisonment as necessary, but it did force her to deal with certain issues, such as monopolies, and pressure from MPs led to her Golden Speech to make them feel important
• Religious Settlement


  A period of religious turmoil between Protestants and Catholics, Elizabeth wanted to find a middle path (via media), a compromise, that would keep Protestant and Catholic English people at peace
• Religious Settlement


  Act of Supremacy stated Elizabeth was the head of the church, Act of Uniformity stated attending church services was compulsory under penalty of a fine, Bible services were to be in English, priests could marry, Catholic saints' days were banned, Elizabeth allowed churches to be colourful, with candles and colourful clothes, similar to Catholic ways
• Groups of Catholics


  • Conformers (participated in Protestant services)
  • Church papists (pretended to go along with changes but remained secretly Catholic)
  • Recusants (refused to go to church and carried on performing Catholic rituals)
  • Plotters (plotted to kill Elizabeth and replace her with a Catholic monarch)
• Reasons for increase in Catholic recusants after 1580


  • Presence in England of Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic cousin of Elizabeth under house arrest, gave hope she would replace Elizabeth and make England Catholic again, the Catholic Church tried to keep English Catholics active by sending missionaries and priests to England, Elizabeth was excommunicated as a heretic by the Pope in 1570, allowing English Catholics to disobey her
• Elizabeth's anti-Catholic laws


  1581 Act of Persuasions raised the fine for not going to church by 10,000%, 1585 Act against Priests - anyone who sheltered a Catholic priest could be executed, 1587 Recusancy Act 2/3 of the land owned by a Catholic recusant could be taken, 1588 - 11 Catholics were executed during the panic caused by the Spanish Armada, 1593 Act Restraining Recusants made it illegal for Catholics to go further than five miles from home and could not hold large meetings
• Between 1580-1603 the numbers of Catholics decreased massively
• Reasons for decrease in Catholics


  • Catholic priests not concentrating on the many poorer Catholics, but the rich, they were mainly active in the south, not the north where there were more Catholics, Walsingham's spy network outnumbered the few priests sent to England
• Threat of Mary Queen of Scots


  She was Elizabeth's Catholic cousin, she came to England in 1568 seeking help, Elizabeth put her under house arrest, she provided a focal point for Catholic plotters, if only Elizabeth could be killed, Mary would become rightful Queen of England, this threat increased after the Pope said in 1570 that Catholics could kill Elizabeth for heresy
• Royal Court


  The centre of political life, around 500 courtiers, moved around the country with Queen Elizabeth I, she used a system of patronage to grant favours to courtiers, her most trusted friends were in the Privy Chamber (private room)
• Royal Court


  • Courtiers vied for the Queen's attention, which could cause jealousy between them
  • The Court progressed around the country, enjoying lavish dances and feasts hosted by noblemen
  • Courtiers tried to catch the Queen's eye by dancing or showing how clever they were
  • Elizabeth used propaganda and censorship, in the form of official portraits, plays, poems, books, and church sermons, to show her power and youthfulness into old age
  • November 17, Ascension Day, was a yearly celebration of Elizabeth becoming queen
  • There were only 60 printing presses in England so it was easy to censor what was published
• Privy Council


  A trusted group of advisors that never numbered more than 19 men, met almost daily at court to help Elizabeth run the country
• Privy Council


  • William Cecil was her main minister for almost 40 years and would stand up to the queen
  • Sir Francis Walsingham was cold and distant and used to anger Elizabeth, he was her spymaster and uncovered plots against her
• The 1590s were a tough decade for Elizabeth
• Reasons the 1590s were tough for Elizabeth


  • She aged and people began discussing who would replace her
  • There were bad harvests, plague, poverty, and the long war with Spain was expensive
  • Cecil and Walsingham had died (in 1598 and 1590) so she lacked advisors she could trust
• Essex Rebellion


  Elizabeth became entranced by one of her courtiers, the younger Earl of Essex, even though he often defied her and had married without her permission, when Cecil died in 1598, Essex wanted to be made Secretary of State of the Privy Council, but Elizabeth instead chose Robert Cecil, the son, Essex was furious, she sent him to Ireland in 1599 to subdue Catholic rebels but he made peace with them, Elizabeth took away his government job, leaving him ruined, Essex led a brief rebellion in 1601, but the people sided with Elizabeth and he was executed
• How Elizabeth controlled her people

  • There was one Lord Lieutenant in each county, usually a nobleman, who reported back to the Privy Council and provided the queen with part-time soldiers when needed
  • There were 40 JPs (Justices of the Peace/Magistrates) throughout the country, unpaid, they did the job for the prestige and influence it gave, they ensured the smooth running of the country, issued licences, etc., some JPs were lazy or unfair, or did not persecute Catholics
• Elizabethan Parliament


  Elizabeth mostly ruled by royal proclamation (her orders), but if she wanted to change laws or raise taxes she had to summon parliament, parliament was not democratic, MPs were selected by their local lord, the Queen could open and close parliament as she liked, parliament only sat for 3 years out of her 45-year reign, between 1580-1603 parliaments were called more often because Elizabeth needed help paying for the war against Spain, Privy Council decided the agenda and Elizabeth decided what topics parliament could discuss: Religion, marriage, Elizabeth's replacement (the succession), and foreign affairs could not be discussed by parliament
• Puritan opposition in Parliament

  • As parliament met more frequently during the 1590s, strict Protestant MPs called Puritans started to ask for more political power, they were especially worried that the Queen might die without a Protestant successor, Puritan MPs wanted complete freedom of speech for MPs, so they could discuss everything, this was a radical suggestion, in 1579, the Puritan MP John Stubbs had had a hand cut off for writing a leaflet criticising the potential marriage of Elizabeth and the Catholic Duke of Anjou, two Puritans had been hanged in 1583 for suggesting this, but the issue was raised again in 1584 and 1586, in 1593 Peter Wentworth MP was imprisoned for demanding Elizabeth name her successor, sometimes, Robert Cecil and Francis Walsingham would stir up MPs to discuss off-limits topics, as they wanted the queen to face issues such as her replacement, in 1584 and 1586, Puritans wanted to reform the church but Elizabeth banned the debate, they also criticised the Queen for favouring people with monopolies and about purveyances, Elizabeth said she would look into these, but did little, as opposition rose, in 1601 she gave her Golden Speech stating how much she loved her people, and she ended some monopolies
• Religious Settlement


  A period of religious turmoil between the Protestant and Catholic denominations of the Christian church, England had broken from the Catholic Church under Henry VIII and been made Protestant by his son, King Edward VI, after he died, his sister Mary Tudor, a fanatical Catholic, had tried to make England a Catholic country, Elizabeth was a Protestant, but when she became queen she wanted to find a middle path (via media), a compromise, that would keep Protestant and Catholic English people at peace
• Religious Settlement


  • The Act of Supremacy stated that Elizabeth was the head of the church, the Act of Uniformity stated that attending church services was compulsory under penalty of a fine, Bible services were to be in English, priests could marry, Catholic saints' days were banned, Elizabeth allowed churches to be colourful, with candles and colourful clothes, which was similar to the Catholic ways, most Catholics could not afford the fines for non-attendance, so they participated in the services and turned Protestant, they were known as Conformers, others pretended to go along with the changes, but remained secretly Catholic and did nothing against the queen aside from hope for a Catholic replacement, they were known as Church papists, several thousand rich Catholics, who could afford to pay the fines, refused to go to church and carried on performing Catholic rituals, they were known as Recusants, the last were the tiny number of Catholic Plotters (<200) who plotted to kill Elizabeth and replace her with a Catholic monarch
• Reasons the number of Recusants increased after 1580

  • The presence in England of Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic cousin of Elizabeth under house arrest, was next-in-line to the throne and this gave hope she would replace Elizabeth and make England Catholic again
  • The Catholic Church tried to keep English Catholics active by sending missionaries and priests to England, over 100 Seminary Priests and Jesuit Priests arrived secretly to spread propaganda and hold religious ceremonies
  • Elizabeth was excommunicated as a heretic by the Pope in 1570, allowing English Catholics to disobey her
• Elizabeth's anti-Catholic laws


  • 1581 Act of Persuasions raised the fine for not going to church by 10,000%, so barely anyone could afford it
  • 1585 Act against Priests – anyone who sheltered a Catholic priest could be executed, Walsingham built up a spy network to hunt down priests, captured priests would be asked the Bloody Question, Edmund Campion was a priest tortured and executed
  • 1587 Recusancy Act 2/3 of the land owned by a Catholic recusant could be taken
  • In 1588, 11 Catholics were executed during the panic caused by the Spanish Armada, priest hunts increased
  • 1593 Act Restraining Recusants made it illegal for Catholics to go further than five miles from home and could not hold large meetings
• Between 1580-1603 the numbers of Catholics decreased massively
• Reasons for the decrease in Catholics


  • Catholic priests not concentrating on the many poorer Catholics, but the rich, they were mainly active in the south, not the north where there were more Catholics, Walsingham's spy network outnumbered the few priests sent to England
• Threat posed by Catholics to Elizabeth

  Mary Queen of Scots had been the queen of Scotland, but had been removed by Protestants, she came to England in 1568 seeking help, Elizabeth put her under house arrest, where she remained for 19 years, she was a threat because she provided a focal point for Catholic plotters, if only Elizabeth could be killed, Mary would become rightful Queen of England, this threat increased after the Pope said in 1570 that Catholics could kill Elizabeth for heresy
• Catholic plots against Elizabeth

  • Throckmorton Plot in 1583, English Catholic Francis Throckmorton plotted with the Philip II of Spain and the Pope to land a Catholic army in England and make Mary the queen, it was discovered by Walsingham's spies, but there was no evidence that Mary was aware of the plot
  • Babington Plot of 1586 involved Anthony Babington communicating with Mary a plot to kill Elizabeth, Walsingham's spies were intercepting the letters, Mary was executed on 8 February 1587
• The Spanish Armada


  England and Spain had become enemies for a number of reasons, the Spanish Armada failed because of bad planning, so they could not collect the invasion force waiting in The Netherlands, luck, because strong winds blew the Spanish north, out of the area, and English navy skill, as they had faster ships and better gunners, and used fire ships to disperse the Spanish fleet
• The presence of Mary QOS was a constant threat because as long as she lived, English Catholics had a good chance of her becoming queen if only they could kill the childless Elizabeth, this would encourage plots
• The Babington and Throckmorton plots were easily dealt with by Walsingham's effective spy network, English Catholics did pose a threat, especially before MQOS was executed, but it was arguably not very significant due to the precautions taken by Walsingham: plots and assassination attempts failed