elizabeth

• Elizabeth


  Henry VIII's second child, his first child was Mary who was born to his first wife Catherine of Aragon
• Mary


  Inherited Catholic beliefs from her mother Catherine of Aragon
• Anne Boleyn


  Henry VIII's second wife, was Protestant, Elizabeth inherited her beliefs
• Edward


  Henry VIII's son, made England Protestant
• Mary


  Became queen after Edward, made England Catholic
• Elizabeth became queen when Mary died in 1558
• Elizabethan society


  • Hierarchical - everybody had a clear place and was expected to be obedient to those 'above' them
  • The Queen was the most important person, then the nobility who were the richest people and owned land
  • Tenant farmers rented land from the nobility and employed landless poor
  • Around 10% of the population lived in towns, with merchants at the top, then professionals, business owners, craftsmen, and unskilled workers at the bottom
• Parts of Elizabethan government

  • The Court - people who lived near the Queen and provided advice
  • The Privy Council - Elizabeth's leading advisers
  • Parliament - House of Lords and House of Commons, less important than today
  • Lord Lieutenant - responsible for law and order in their county
  • Justice of the Peace - made sure Elizabeth's policies were carried out locally
• Succession


  Women were viewed as inferior to men, most would have preferred a man to be in charge, Elizabeth was expected to marry quickly so a man could help run the country, Catholics saw her as illegitimate as Henry VIII had divorced
• Economy and debt


  England's economy was weak in 1558, many tenant farmers moved from crops to sheep farming leading to unemployment, England was £300,000 in debt, Elizabeth raised money by selling Royal land
• Other countries


  France was England's enemy, Mary Queen of Scots was married to the French heir, Spain was strongly Catholic and Elizabeth rejected a marriage proposal from the Spanish king
• Marriage


  It was expected that Elizabeth would marry, but this would reduce her power as her husband would be expected to run the country
• Inexperience


  Elizabeth had to rely on advisers like William Cecil at first
• Elizabeth's religious settlement of 1559

  1. Act of Supremacy - England became Protestant again, clergy had to swear allegiance to Elizabeth

  2. Act of Uniformity - new English Prayer book, services in English, some Catholic practices allowed
• Puritan Challenge 1 - The Crucifix Controversy


  Puritans wanted all images removed from churches, Elizabeth wanted to keep some Catholic practices, she had to back down on insisting on crucifixes
• Puritan Challenge 2 - The vestment controversy

  Puritans opposed priests wearing special vestments, Elizabeth insisted on it, most priests agreed to wear the correct clothes after 1566
• Catholic Challenge in England - The Northern Earls


  Northern nobility were Catholic, wanted England restored to Catholicism, supported by Mary Queen of Scots, the rebellion was defeated by Elizabeth
• Foreign challenge 1 - France

  France was Catholic, opposed Elizabeth's religious settlement, but was distracted by its own religious civil war so did not pose a major threat
• Foreign challenge 2 - The Papacy


  The Pope was outraged by England becoming Protestant, but did not have the power to persuade France and Spain to remove Elizabeth, eventually excommunicated her in 1570
• Foreign challenge 3 - Spain

  Spain was the most strongly Catholic country, became more of a threat to England after 1567
• Excommunication


  You are no longer a member of the Catholic Church and that Catholics would be allowed and encouraged to overthrow her
• Pope Pius IV chose not to excommunicate Elizabeth as he believed that she would eventually change her mind and make England Catholic again
• The Papacy did not have an army and the Pope could not persuade the leaders of the two most powerful Catholic nations, France and Spain, to remove Elizabeth
• Eventually a new Pope called Pius V decided to excommunicate Elizabeth in 1570
• Elizabeth rejected a marriage proposal from the King of Spain, Philip II


  Spain became more of a threat to England after 1567
• At the time of Queen Elizabeth the Netherlands belonged to Spain
• Inside the Netherlands there was a growing number of Protestants and in 1566 they rebelled against Spanish rule
• Philip II sent an army of 10,000 under the Control of the Duke of Alba to deal brutally with the Protestant rebels
• Elizabeth's response was to support pirates from the Netherlands who stole from Spanish ships in the English channel
• Spain regarded France as a bigger threat and the French had been their traditional enemy
• Spain was reluctant to overthrow Elizabeth as this would most likely lead to Mary Queen of Scots becoming Queen of England
• Mary's links to France meant that her taking the English throne would strengthen the position of the French in Europe
• Spain therefore decided against an invasion during the 1560s
• Mary arrived in England in 1568 as she had been forced out of Scotland on accusations of murdering her second husband, Lord Darnley
• In 1567 Darnley was murdered by Mary's friend the Earl of Bothwell
• Mary then married Bothwell a few months later
• The Scottish nobles rebelled and forced her to abdicate in favour of her three year old son, James
• In 1568 Mary escaped and fled to England
• Elizabeth instead imprisoned Mary
• Elizabeth faced a very difficult decision about what to do with Mary