Elizabethan England- Challenges at home and abroad

• Northern Earls where unhappy

  1. many northern earls where still committed catholics, they wanted catholicism to be restored to england. The arrival of Mary gave them hope that Elizabeth would be replaced.
• Northern Earls where unhappy

  Elizabeth had confiscated large areas of land from the Earl of Northumberland and shared them between his main rival in the north and a southern Protestant. Northumberland was also angry that Elizabeth had claimed all profits from copper mines discovered on his estate.
• northern earls weren’t happy

  • Elizabeth had reduced the amount of power of the northern nobles and increased her control in the north
• The revolt of the Northern Earls

  November 1569

  1. Duke of Norfolk hatched a plan to marry Mary, Queen of Scots and have her recognised as elizabeths heir. This was supported by many Catholic nobles as they too wanted a catholic queen.
  2. The plan was uncovered
  3. They then captured Durham where they celebrated a Catholic mass then marched south however they were then captured by a large royal army.
  4. Elizabeth showed little mercy and Northumberland was executed along with at least 400 rebel troops.
• Northern Earl serious threat

  1. The revolt of the Northern earls was the most serious rebellion of Elizabeth’s reign as it posed a major threat as it showed that Mary was a rallying point for english catholics
  2. News of the rebellion spread fear among English Protestants as memories of the harsh persecution during the previous reign of Queen Mary I were fuelled
  3. This changed Elizabeth’s attitude towards Catholics and she became less tolerant
• Ridolfi plot

  • planned to kill Elizabeth and Marry Mary to the Duke of Norfolk and make her Queen. He was supported by the pope, king Phillip II, who agreed to provide troops
  • The plot failed as Elizabeth’s allies passed on the names of the main conspirators. They also intercepted letters sent by Mary
  • Norfolk was arrested and executed however Mary wasn’t punished she just was more tightly controlled
• Throckmorton Plot

  aimed to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. The conspirators planned for an invasion of England by French troops, financed by Phillip II and the Pope
• Walsingham

  A leading figure in the throckmorton plot was Francis Throckmorton, a young man who carried messages between Mary and Catholic conspirators abroad. The plot was uncovered by Walsingham. Elizabeth’s closest advisors drafted the Bond Of Association, which aimed to prevent any more plots and the bond was signed by nobility and gentry to execute anyone who attempted to overthrow the queen
• Francis Walsingham

  was Elizabeth’s spymaster. He established a large spy network in England and Europe. Walsingham intercepted the letters of Catholic conspirators and worked to decipher them.
• The catholic plots threat

  1. Mary’s presence in England and her strong claim to the English throne made the plots seem credible and meant they posed a real threat.
  2. As the head of the Catholic Church the Pope could rally support for the plots. For some catholics, they obeyed the Pope more than the queen
  3. Foreign powers, especially France and Spain, were involved in the plots which could lead to foreign invasion
• plots had significant weaknesses…

  1. Elizabeth was a popular ruler and the conspirators lacked public support.
  2. Phillip II was reluctant to destroy his alliance with Elizabeth so his support was half-hearted and he rarely followed through with his promises
  3. Elizabeths informants and later Walsingham‘s spy network ensured the plots were uncovered before they did any damage
• Catholic plots

  Walsingham used his spy network to prove that mary had supported the babington plot. His evidence persuaded Elizabeth to put Mary in trial and execute her for treason
• Babington plot

  1. The Babington Plot aimed to assassinate Elizabeth and give the English throne to Mary
  2. Anthony Babington was one of the main people, he was responsible for sending information to Mary from her supporters and passing back her replies
• Walsingham Babington plot

  Through his spy network, Walsingham followed every stage of the plot. He managed to intercept all letters and have them decoded. One of Mary’s letters approved plans to assassinate the Queen and free Mary from prison.

  Walsingham had all the evidence he needed to break the plot and Babington and the other conspirators were arrested and executed for treason
• Babington plot led to the execution of Mary

  1. Mary had been implicated in catholic plots before, but Elizabeth had always been reluctant to take action against her. The evidence gathered by Walsingham finally persuaded her to put Mary on trial
  2. Mary was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death
  3. Elizabeth eventually signed Mary’s death warrant after several months, and the execution took place
  4. It was so hard for Elizabeth to execute Mary since she believed in the Divine Right (the idea that rulers were sent by God)
• Mary’s execution

  yeah execution of Mary removed the long-standing catholic threat to Elizabeth at home. English Catholics now had no one to rally around, so they lost hope of ever overthrown Elizabeth and reversing the religious settlement. There was no more major catholic plots during Elizabeth’s reign.
• Marys execution increased threat from abroad

  relations with Spain were a low point. The two countries were at war with each other over the Netherlands and King Philip. The second had been preparing for an attack on England. Mary’s execution made the situation. Worse Philip was now even more determined to invade.
• England and Spain were political and religious rivals

  1. King Phillip II of Spain had been married to Queen Mary I and the two countries had fought against France together.
  2. Spains military and naval forces were much greater than england so Elizabeth was always reluctant to do anything that may destroy her alliance
  3. Phillip was a very strong Catholic and disliked the Elizabethan religious settlements. He became involved in several Catholic plots
• Rivalry 


  in 1568, Spanish ships full of gold took refuge in English ports to escape the bad weather. Elizabeth seized the gold for herself which made Phillip very angry. In response Phillip seized english ships and banned english trade with the netherlands. This damaged englands economy and caused a lot of hardship for english people.
• New world

  Trade with Spain’s colonies in North and South america were very profitable however foreigners werent allowed to trade with them unless they had a licence. Very few Englishmen were granted a licence.
• Elizabeth pirates 


  Elizabeth encourage privateers (men who sailed their own ships) to trade illegally with Spainish colonies, raid Spanish ships and attack the treasure fleets carrying gold and silver from the Americas to spain. Because privateers were supposably independent, Elizabeth could deny any responsibility which helped prevent open conflict with Phillip.
• Elizabeth’s pirates


  Elizabeth received a share of the privateers profits. Given Englands financial weakness this was a very important source of income for her. The rest of the treasure she recieved from drake was worth more than all the income for that year put together
• Francis Drake


  He was a leading privateer. He was involved in several expeditions in the new world. Drake sailed around the world and carried out a number of raids on the Spanish ships, returning with huge amounts of treasure that paid of Elizabeth’s debt
• Dutch rebels


  Protestant rebels in the Netherlands declared independence from Spain and established a dutch republic. Elizabeth gave financial help to the rebels, but she didn’t want to anger Phillip II by getting too involved.
• Dutch rebels


  in 1585 she decided to give direct help to to the rebels and she signed the treaty of nonsuch, which placed the Netherlands under her protection and promised military assistance
• why did she sign the treaty of Nonsuch

  • Religious- she wanted to protect Dutch Protestantism and prevent Phillip II from forcing Catholicism
  • Commercial- The Netherlands’ ports were essential entry points into Europe
  • Military- if the rebels were defeated, Phillip may use the Netherlands to invade england
• Drake‘s raid on Cadiz (1587)


  Francis Drake attacked the Spanish port of Cadiz. The attack became known as ‘the singeing of the kings beard’ This was a major setback is Spains preparations for the armada
• Drake was sent to disrupt Spanish preparations for the Armarda

  • Phillip saw the treaty of no such as a declaration of war on spain, so he began building a huge fleet (armada) to invade england
  • Elizabeth was aware of Phillips plan so she sent Francis Drake to spy on spanish preparations and attack their ships and supplies
• Drake attacked the Spanish port of Cadiz (1587)

  1. He knew where the ships were being built but it was highly protected and Drake knew he couldn’t attack
  2. Instead, he decided to attack to port of Cadiz as it wasnt well defended. Fewer ships were there but there was a lot of naval supplies.
• Drake attacked the Spanish port of Cadiz in 1587

  • Drake sailed into cadiz harbour and began to attack the ships. He destroyed 30 ships and seized many tonnes of supplies like food and weapons
  • After, he sailed along the coast of Spain and Portugal, seizing spanish ships and destroying supplies
  • Drake also captured the San Filipe, a spanish ship returning from the americas laden with gold, spices and silk. It’s valuable cargo covered the cost of Drake‘s expedition and enabled Elizabeth to improve Englands defences
• Raid on Cadiz was a major setback for the spanish armada

  The raid on Cadiz delayed Phillips invasion plan by more than a year
• The Spanish Armada 


  The armada planned to meet at Dunkirk

  • The armada was a huge fleet of around 130 ships manned by 8000 sailors which carried 18,000 soldiers
  • Phillip appointed the Duke of Medina Sidonia to lead the Armada but he had little military experience
  • The Spanish has thousands more soldiers stationed in the Netherlands. The plan was for the Armada to meet them at Dunkirk. They would then both sail across the channel to England
• The armada reached the English Channel

  1. The armada set out in May but was delayed by several weeks because of bad weather
  2. In July, the Spanish ships were sighted in cornwall and signal fires were lit along the south coast to send the news to Elizabeth in London
• The armada reached the English Channel

  • (3) English ships set sail from Plymouth to meet the armada
  • (4) The armada sailed up the channel in a crescent formation. This was an effective defensive strategy, which used large, armed galleons to protect the weaker supply and troop ships
  • (5)the English navy carried out minor raids but didn’t cause major damage.
• The English attacked the Spanish

  1. Medina Sidonia anchored at Calais to wait for the Netherland group however they were being blockaded by dutch ships and weren’t on time
  2. in the night, English set fire ships among the anchored ships. this caused panic and sailors cut their anchors and broke defensive formation and headed for the open sea
  3. The Spanish ships regrouped at Gravelines, but the weather made it impossible for them to get back in to defensive position.
• The english moved in, the following battle lasted hours. 5 Spanish ships were sunk and the rest of the fleet was forced to sail away from the French coast into the North sea.

  An english fleet followed the Spanish to make sure they didn’t regroup and return
• The armadas journey back to Spain was a disaster

  1. Medina Sidonia decided to call off the English attack and return to Spain by sailing around Scotland and Ireland. The sailors were unfamiliar with this dangerous route and encountered several storms
  2. Many ships sank or were wrecked. The ships that survived ran short of supplies, and many men died of starvation and disease. Less than half of the fleet and fewer than 10,000 men made it back to spain.
• factors contributing to the defeat of the Armada


  English strengths:

  • The english had improved their ship building, giving them several technological advantages. Spain relied on Big ships that were heavy and hard to handle whereas the english built long, narrow ships that were faster and easier to handle. English cannons could also be reloaded much quicker than Spanish ones.
• factors contributing to the defeat of the Armada


  English strengths:

  • English tactics were more affective. Spanish ships aimed to get alongside their opponents and then jump on board and hand to hand fight them. However, they couldn’t use this tactic as the english stayed out of range. The english would fire cannonballs which could sink Spanish ships
• Factors that contributed to the defeat of the armada 


  Spanish weaknesses:

  • Most of Spains men lacked experience of fighting, whereas the english fleet had a lot of experienced sailors
  • The Spanish plan to meet the netherlands group was bad as the ships were extremely vulnerable to an attack while they waited