Elizabethan England History GCSE

• Government

  Court - noblemen who advised the queen

  Parliament - Houses of Lords and Commons. Advised Elizabeth’s government

  Privy council - Nobles who helped alongside Elizabeth to govern the country
• Elizabeth’s Problems when she became queen 1558

  • young and inexperienced
  • protestant so not supported by English Catholics
  • People believed she was illegitimate
  • unmarried
• Financial weaknesses

  • £300,000 crown debt
  • Mary had sold off Crown Lands (hard for Elizabeth to make money)
  • Mary had borrowed from foreign countries who charged high interest rates
• Challenges from abroad


  France, Spain and Scotland were all catholic.

  Believed Mary, Queen of Scots had a stronger claim to the throne of England.

  France and Scotland were old allies.
• Elizabeth’s character

  • very well educated
  • spoke 4 foreign languages: Dutch, Latin , Spanish and Greek
  • confident and charismatic
  • believed in her divine right to rule (Chosen by God)
  • excellent understanding of politics
  • strong willed and stubborn
• Religious divides 1558 : Catholic

  • Pope head of church
  • Priests can forgive sins
  • bread and wine become the body and blood of christ
  • services in Latin
  • Churches highly decorated
  • Catholics were the majority in the North and West of England
• Religious divides 1558 : Protestant

  • No pope
  • Only God can forgive sins
  • Bread and wine represent the body and blood of christ
  • services in English
  • Churches should be plain and simple
  • Majority in the south-east, East Anglia and London
• Religious divides 1558 : Puritan

  • very strict protestants
  • shared same beliefs with protestants but much more extreme
• Church of England in Society

  Enforced the religious settlement, gave spiritual and practical advice, preached the Government’s messages.

  Everyone had to pay a 10% tathe to fund the church
• Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement 1559

  • aimed to establish a religious form that would be acceptable to catholics and protestants
  • Act of Uniformity
  • Act of supremacy
  • Book of common prayer
  • Royal injunctions
• Act of uniformity


  Established the appearance of churches and how services should be conducted
• Act of Supremacy

  Made Elizabeth the supreme governor if the church of england. All clergy had to swear and oath of allegiance to her.
• Book of common prayer

  Introduced a set of new church services to be used in all services in both Latin and English
• Royal Injuctions

  Forced all clergy to teach royal supremacy, keep and english bible, report people who refused to attend church
• Challenges to the religious settlement

  • puritan challenge at home
  • crucifix controversy
  • vestment controversy
• Crucifix controversy

  Refused to display crucifixes in churches, which had been ordered by Elizabeth to please the catholics. Elizabeth backed down
• Vestment controversy

  Refused to wear the vestments. In 1566, 37 puritan priests resigned after refusing to wear the new vestments when ordered
• Catholic challenge abroad

  The Catholic Church in Europe began a ‘Counter Reformation’ to undo the Protestant changes.The pope excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, which could encourage attacks on England from Catholic countries.Elizabeth backed the Protestants in a religious war in France in 1562.
• Catholic challenge at home

  One third of the English nobility and gentry, particularly in the north and west of England, were recusants (refused to attend church) because they did not agree with the Settlement.

  This was encouraged by the pope.This was a major cause of the Revolt of the Northern Earls (1569-70).
• Mary, Queen of Scots : problems for Elizabeth

  1. She was Elizabeth’s second cousin so had a good claim to the throne of England
  2. She was a Catholic so her claim to the throne was supported by many English Catholics
  3. She was believed to have been involved in her husband’s murder, which led to a rebellion in Scotland. Maryfled to England in 1568. This made her more of a threat to Elizabeth, so she was imprisoned.
• Why did the revolt of the Northern Earls happen? 1569-70

  To make England Catholic againThe Earls resented their loss of influence in Elizabeth’s court when she appointed ‘new men’ such as William Cecil and Robert Dudley.To marry Mary, Queen of Scots to the Duke of Norfolk, depose Elizabeth and make Mary queen.
• what happened in the Revolt of the Northern Earls 1569-70?

  Rebels, led by the Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland, marched to Durham and took control of the cathedral. They then continued south.BUT support did not arrive from Spain.Elizabeth moved Mary to Coventry, away from the rebellion.Many northern landowners stayed loyal to Elizabeth.
• Why is this failed rebellion (revolt of the northern earls) significant?

  It showed that Mary, Queen of Scots couldn’t be trusted.It led to Elizabeth’s excommunication by the pope, which encouraged further plots against Elizabeth.
• Ridolfi Plot


  1571
• Ridolfi Plot


  An Italian banker, Roberto Ridolphi, who was a spy for the pope, planned to murder Elizabeth, start a Spanish invasion and put Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne. Mary would then marry the Duke of Norfolk.
• Ridolfi Plot

  1. Ridolfi travelled to the Netherlands

  2. Discussed the plot with Philip II of Spain and the Duke of Alba

  3. Philip instructed Alba to gather 10,000 troops for the invasion
• Sir William Cecil


  Discovered the plot and had the Duke of Norfolk tried for treason and executed
• Elizabeth would not agree to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots
• Significant because it confirmed that Spain, English Catholics and Mary were all still a major threat to Elizabeth
• Throckmorton Plot, 1583

  The French Duke of Guise plotted to invade England, overthrow Elizabeth and make England Catholic.Philip II of Spain offered to help pay for the revolt. The pope gave his approval. Francis Throckmorton offered to pass letters between the plotters and Mary.Sir Francis Walsingham (Secretary of State) discovered the plot. Throckmorton was executed. Significant because... it showed the threat from France and Spain. Elizabeth cracked down on Catholic sympathisers: 11,000 were imprisoned or kept under house arrest.
• Babington Plot, 1586

  The Duke of Guise planned to invade England, murder Elizabeth and put Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne. This plot was also supported by Philip II and the pope.Walsingham intercepted letters between Mary and Babington which proved her involvement in the plot. Babington and the other plotters were executed. In October 1586, Mary was sentenced to death. Elizabeth signed Mary’s death warrant in February 1587.Significant because... it led to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Persecution of Catholics intensified.
• Francis Walsingham and the use of spies

  Walsingham was Elizabeth’s Secretary of State or ‘spy master’. He used a network of spies and informants in every town and city in England, as well as abroad. He used ciphers (codes) for all his correspondences. He used torture and execution to deter people from committing crimes against Elizabeth.
• Why was Mary, Queen of Scots executed in 1587?


  •  Walsingham’s evidence proved that she had been involved in the Revolt of the Northern Earls and the plots against Elizabeth.
  • The Spanish support for the attempts to put Mary on the throne threatened England’s security.
  •  Her claim to the English throne gave Catholics an alternative monarch to Elizabeth, especially once the pope had excommunicated Elizabeth.
• Political and religious rivalry with Spain

  Spain=Catholic, England=Protestant - saw each other as a threat
• Philip II had been involved in the plots against Elizabeth
• Many in Elizabeth's government were angry at Spain's persecution of Protestants in the Netherlands and encouraged Elizabeth to get involved
• Elizabeth's actions

  1. Secretly provided money to the rebels fighting against Spain

  2. Encouraged English privateers to attack Spanish ships
• After the Spanish Fury, when unpaid Spanish troops looted the town of Antwerp, 17 Dutch provinces joined an alliance against the Spanish (the Pacification of Ghent) calling for Spanish troops to leave the Netherlands
• By late 1584, Spain had largely re-established control of the Netherlands


  Blamed England for supporting the rebels and for privateers attacking Spanish ships
• England and Spain were rivals for


  Trade and resources from the New World, Turkey, China, Russia and North Africa