Elizabeth's Character and Court

• Queen Elizabeth

  A strong-minded leader and effective Queen who balanced England at a difficult time
• Elizabeth's character

  • Bold
  • Pragmatic
  • Cautious
  • Intelligent
• Elizabeth was bold
• She decided not to marry the Duke of Anjou out of fear that having someone married to the Queen would destroy the country
• She invested in Sir Walter Raleigh's exploration missions and despite only meriting a 10% share of the spoils would extract more than half
• During the Spanish Armada, the Queen was publicly visible and composed
• Her acceptance of both Catholics and Protestants allowed England to live in peace
• The extreme positions of Edward VI and Mary I had harmed English culture and society
• Her use of Drake and Raleigh as a casual navy to earn money from privateering and to defend England was pragmatic
• Elizabeth was more cautious than her father, Henry VIII
• Mary Queen of Scots spent years in England, threatening her rule before she was finally executed
• Elizabeth was a well-educated Queen


  Her religious settlement shows great intelligence
• She enjoyed theatre and music (she had a personal choir of over 50 singers)
• She decided not to marry the Duke of Anjou and risk her life and peace in England
• She used patronage, patents, monopolies, and titles to make sure that the nobles of England never threatened her position as Queen
• There was a clear power structure within the court
• The Royal Court was attended by more than 1000 people
• Elizabeth could not just do what she wanted and had to work with parliament and the nobility
• Powerful people at court

  • Privy councillors
  • The Privy Council
  • Nobles
• A few trusted individuals, most of whom were privy councillors (19 people who were the Queen’s most trusted advisors), were the most powerful people at court
• The Privy Council had shrunk to 11 people by 1600
• Elizabeth effectively bought the loyalty of her court using patronage
• Elizabeth granted 'leases in reversion' to loyal nobles, effectively a grant of freedom and money from the Queen
• Elizabeth granted nobles titles and monopolies over whole industries (like the salt industry and starch industry)
• Giving these nobles money, power and influence, conditional on her support helped to ensure that her position of power was stable
• Elizabeth could reward courtiers with titles, power, and positions of authority without it costing the treasury money
• The economy was weak at the start of Elizabeth’s reign and the funds available to win the support of noblemen were small
• Instead, Elizabeth gave nobles social status and power, conditional on supporting her as the Queen
• Elizabeth had lots of servants and advisors in the court
• The court included the Privy Council, but other parts of government were not part of the court
• Justices of the Peace were a bit like magistrates
• Parliament did not attend Queen Elizabeth's court
• The Privy Council was a group of 19 people who were the Queen’s most trusted advisors, led by the Secretary of State
• Key advisors

  • William Cecil
  • Francis Walsingham
  • Robert Dudley
  • Christopher Hatton
  • Nicholas Bacon
• William Cecil and Francis Walsingham both served as Secretary of State during Elizabeth’s reign and had enormous influence
• They also held the title of Principal Secretary
• In her early years as queen, Elizabeth was close to Robert Dudley
• Christopher Hatton was another of the Queen’s important advisors
• Nicholas Bacon served as Lord Chancellor from 1559-1579