Early Elizabethan England 1558-88 - KQ1

When was Elizabeth crowned?

1558

What was the hierarchy in the countryside?

• Nobility

• Gentry

• Yeomen

• Tenant farmers

• Landless and working poor

• Homeless and Vagabonds

What was the hierarchy in the towns?

• Merchants

• Professionals

• Business owners

• Skilled craftsmen

• Unskilled workers

• Unemployed

What were the key features of the monarch’s court?

• The court was the body of people who lived in, or near, the same palace or house as the monarch. 

• The court consisted of members of nobility including the monarchs key servants, advisers and friends. 

• To attend court, the monarch's permission was required

What was the role of the monarch’s court?

• To entertain and advise the monarch

• Members of the court (Courtiers) had power with the monarch rather than having power on their own.

• Public display of wealth and power

What were the key features of the Privy Council?

• The Privy Council was made up of leading courtiers, advisers, nobles and senior government officials.

• The Privy Council consisted of approximately 19 members who were chosen by the monarch.

• The Council met at least three times a week

What were the roles of the Privy council?

• Debate the current issues faced and advise the monarch on government policy.

• To ensure the monarch's decisions were carried out.

• To oversee law and order, the local government and security of England.

• To monitor the Justices of the Peace.

• Monitor proceedings of Parliament.

What were the key features of Parliament?

• Parliament consisted of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

• Parliament could only be called and dismissed by the monarch.

• Very few people had the right to vote.

• Elizabeth called parliament ten times during her reign.

What were the key roles of the Parliament?

• To grant extraordinary taxation, which was additional taxation to pay for unexpected expenses such as war.

• Parliament also passed Laws.

• Offered advice to the monarch.

What were the key features of a Lord Lieutenant?

• The monarch would appoint a Lord Lieutenant for each country.

• Lord Lieutenants were often members of the nobility and members of the Privy Council.

• They were seen as essential to maintaining the monarchs power and England's defences.

What were the roles of the Lord Lieutenants?

• Lord Lieutenants were in charge of raising and training the local militia and overseeing county defences. the local Militia was a military force of ordinary people raised in an emergency.

• They also oversaw the enforcement of policies and were part of the local government.

What were the key features of the Justices of the Peace?

• The Justices of the Peace were members of the nobility.

• They were unpaid and reported to the Privy Council.

• The role was a popular job and seen as a position of status.

What were the roles of the JPs?

• Justices of the Peace made sure all economic and social policies were carried out.

• They heard county court cases every 3 months for serious crimes.

• They were part of the local government.

What was the role of the monarch?

• Monarchs believed they had a right to rule 'by the grace of god'. This would later be known as 'divine right'.

Although she would seek advice from her Privy Council, the monarch would go on to make all the important decisions on government policy as well as:

• Declare war or make peace

• Call or dismiss parliament or agree and reject laws they may propose (royal prerogative)

• Rule in some legal cases, for example, if the law was unclear or if people appealed a judgement

• Grant titles or lands, money or jobs (patronage)

What were the problems with legitimacy? Pt.1

• King Henry VIII wife was Catherine of Aragon, she couldn’t bear a child.

• Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn and wanted to marry her.

• Henry asked the pope to grant him a divorce, he refused.

• Henry broke away from Roman Catholicism and formed his own Church.

• He married Anne Boleyn.

What were the problems with legitimacy? Pt.2

• Henry VII divorce was not recognised by the Catholic Church - many catholics didn’t agree on this divorce.

• Anne Boleyn was Elizabeth’s mother.

• After many years, Anne Boleyn couldn’t bear a son.

• Henry accused Anne Boleyn of witchcraft and executed her.

• Henry married Jane Seymour.

• Henry then removed Elizabeth from the line of succession.

What were the problems with legitimacy? Pt.3

• Catherine Parr married Henry VIII, she liked Elizabeth

• She brought Elizabeth back to the courts and convinced Henry to put Elizabeth back into the line of succession.

• Henry put Elizabeth back into the line of succession

What were the problems with gender and marriage? Pt.1

• A queen ruling without a king was quite unusual

• Christian religion often preferred the man over the woman in the household

  Benefits of marriage

• A husband could fulfil the role of a military leader during times of war

• If a queen is married, they could have children - bring stability and peace - no rivalry from claimants for the throne.

  Disadvantages of marriage

• Marrying a husband would cause the wife to be side lined - 16th century prejudice.

• Only man suitable would be a prince - but they would put their own country’s needs first before England.

What were the problems with Queen Mary I

• Mary I was Elizabeth’s half sister

• She was a devout catholic and married King Phillip II of Spain

• She burned 300 protestants at the stake and supported a war with Spain against France.

• This caused England to be in lots of debt and generated hatred by the Protestants towards the Catholics.

• This is why people feared Elizabeth as she was looked upon as inexperienced and she may be harsh like her sister.

What was Queen Elizabeth’s character and strengths?

• spoke several languages, Latin, Greek, French and Italian

• understood the dangerous world of court politics - imprisoned in the Tower of London for suspicion of plotting against Mary I.

What was Queen Elizabeth character?

• charismatic and confident

• win her subjects over with her persuasive speeches

• She had a temper which people feared

• Privy Council found it frustrating as she would take a long time to make an urgent and important decision.

How did Elizabeth want to legitimise her mother?

• Elizabeth campaigned for her mother to be remembered in a positive light

• As Henry VII had executed Anne Boleyn, she wanted Anne Boleyn to be remembered as his greatest love and a martyr of the Protestant cause

BREAK TIME

BREAK TIME

How did monarchs raise money and taxes?

• Rents and income from the crown lands

• Taxes from trade (custom duties)

• Additional taxes known as subsidies

• Profits of justice fines

• Loans

How much debt was England in?

When Elizabeth came to power, the government did not have a lot of money as they had fought costly wars prior to her becoming queen and lots of crown lands had already been sold off to raise money to fight them. 

• When Elizabeth took the throne, the Crown was £300,000 in debt which was a huge sum of money during 1558. 

• In contrast, the total income of the Crown at that time was approximately £286,667.

What was the worth of Elizabethan money?

In an effort to make more money to fight the wars in the 1540s, the government of the time had reduced the amount of silver and gold in each coin. This is known as debasement.

To improve the country's finances, Elizabeth would also need to improve the quality of English money.

To be a strong Queen, Elizabeth needed to be wealthy. Defending the country and her throne was expensive and raising money through taxes would make her unpopular and required Parliament’s agreement. In exchange for agreeing to tax rises, parliament could make demands from Elizabeth. Therefore, she did not want to rely too much on parliament for her income.

What was the French threat?

• England’s traditional enemy was France

• England had occupied Calais for centuries, until England lost the war against France

• As a result, England signed a treaty called the Treaty of Troyes 1564 to establish that Calais belonged to France in exchange for money.

What was the French threat? Pt.2

• England was also worried about Scotland as France and Scotland had signed an alliance known as the Auld Alliance - if any of them are attacked, they would both respond by invading England territory.

• Scots and the French was also related through family - Mary QoS mother was Mary of Guise

What was the threat of France and Spain?

• France and Spain were no longer at war.

• France and Spain had the same religion - Catholicism

• England had Protestantism

• France and Spain could ally with each other and invade England, easily outnumbering them,

What was the threat of Mary QoS

• Mary QoS was the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII.

• When Mary I died, she declared herself as the legitimate heir to the English throne.

• As she was Catholic and had a legitimate claim, many English Catholics accepted her as the true heir to the throne.

What was the English Reformation?

• Catholicism had dominated Europe for centuries, controlling what festivals and activities Christians could do

• Reformation began when in Germany Martin Luther pinned his 95 theses outlining how corrupt the Catholic Church was and he introduced protestantism.

What is the difference between English Catholics and Protestants?

• Pope

  Catholics - Pope is the head of the church

  Protestants - No one is head of the Church

• Sacraments

  Catholics - All 7

  Protestants - Only 2 (Baptism and Eucharist)

• Churches

  Catholics - Churches should be intricately designed and should have gold and silver decorations, Priests should wear vestments, Services should be in Latin.

  Protestants - Churches should be plain and have no decorations, Priests should wear a plain robe, Common prayer book allows people to understand services

What was the religious divisions in 1558?

• During her coronation, most of her subjects were Catholic

• Conflict was spreading all over Europe as both Catholicism and Protestantism were arguing whether which is the best and true religion

• Most of England’s bishops were Catholic and changing the country’s religion would be difficult as they would oppose the act

• North and North West were strongly Catholic

• South and South East were strongly Protestant

• Puritan is an extreme form of Protestantism

What was the religious settlement 1559?

• Elizabeth wanted to find a compromise between Catholics and Protestants

• She wanted to find a type of Protestantism which the Catholics would accept

• She also didn’t want to turn her Catholics subjects against her

What was the Act of Supremacy?

• made Elizabeth the supreme Governor of the Church

• all clergy and royal officials had to swear an oath of allegiance to her

What was the Act of Uniformity?

• established what the appearance of churches would be

• what the form of services would be

What was the Royal Injunctions?

• set of instructions issued by Sir William Cecil

• issued to clergy to reinforce the Act of Supremacy and Uniformity

• How people should worship God and services.

• All clergy were to teach the Royal Supremacy (that the monarch is the head of the church)

• Anyone who refused to attend church was to be reported to the Privy Council

• Each parish would receive a copy of the Bible in English

• No-one was allowed to preach without a license granted by the government

• Pilgrimages (a journey to an important religious site, monument or shrine) and monuments to fake miracles were banned

• All clergy were to wear special vestments

How was the Religious Settlement enforced?

• An ecclesiastical commission was established to maintain discipline and enforce the settlement

• Act of Uniformity introduced a set prayer in the Common Prayer book which had to be followed - made deliberately unclear to allow people to have their own interpretations of it.

• People who failed to attend church were fined 1 shilling - according to the Labourers Act 1563; Labourers earned 3 pence a day, skilled craftsman earned 4 pence, servants earned 8-9 pence. There was 12 pence in a shilling, very hard for the poor to pay, but easy for the rich

What was the impact of the religious settlement?

• Only 1 out of 27 Catholic bishops accepted the settlement - shortage of Protestant clergy

• Out of 10000 priests, 8000 accepted

• Parts of the North were slow to change, but majority the change was smooth

• Elizabeth didn’t want to punish recusants harshly as it would increase empathy for them

What was the nature and the extent of the Puritan challenge?

• main challenge came from the Church of England itself and the clergyman, many disobeyed and didn’t follow the settlement orders.

• biggest issues were over vestments and crucifixes

What was the Crucifix controversy?

• crucifix represented Jesus Christ dying on the cross

• Elizabeth liked them and ordered that each church should have a crucifix for their familiarity and look.

• Puritans thought that these crucifixes were idols

• Puritans didn’t like the crucifixes and threatened to resign

• Elizabeth backed down however she insisted in keeping one in the royal chapel.

What was the Vestment controversy?

• Puritans believed that Priests should not wear elaborate clothing (vestments), they should wear plain and simple robes

• Elizabeth had set out clearly in the royal injunctions that she wanted al priest to wear vestments

• The Archbishop of Canterbury issued guidelines for priests in his ‘Book of Advertisements’

• An exhibition was held in London to show priests what vestments to wear and when

• Out of 110, 37 refused to attend

• Majority of priests consented to Elizabeth insistence on vestments

What was the nature and extent of the Catholic challenge?

• Catholics were trying to fight back the influence of Protestantism through the counter-reformation

• They supported local communities, persecuting heretics and waging war against Protestants.

• In 1566, Pope Pius issued a papal bull ordering English Catholics not to attend the Church of England services

• In the North, ancient Catholic families such as Westmorland and Northumberland resented the growth and influence of Protestant courtiers and families, they grew less influential as the day passed.

• They decided to revolt and this was known as the Revolt of the Northern Earls

• Elizabeth fought back and this caused the Catholic army to retreat.

• From the 1570s onwards, Elizabeth’s treatment with the Catholics would change.

Was Protestantism growing in the 1560s?

Yes, Protestantism started to grow in countries such as the Netherlands, Scotland and France - Catholic powers were determined to stop this

What did Elizabeth do in France?

• A religious war broke out between the French Catholics and the French Protestants

• Elizabeth supported the protestants and gave them money and resources.

• She previously had successfully helped the Scottish Protestant nobles and lords to rebel against Catholic rule, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh 1560.

• However, the French Protestants ended up making peace with the Catholics.

• As a result, Phillip II of Spain grew angry due to Elizabeth’s support upon the French Protestants

What happened in Spain and the Netherlands?

• Phillip II was a strict Roman Catholic who was annoyed by Elizabeth’s attempts to help Protestants across Europe

• In 1563, Spain banned the import of English wool to Antwerp; England retaliated and ceased trade with them. The trade embargo lasted for a year as it brought heavy losses on both sides.

What was the Dutch Revolt 1566?

• The Dutch grew angry that Phillip was reorganising the Dutch government and Church

• The Catholics and Protestants came together and stood against the Spanish

• As a result, Phillip II sent the Duke of Alba with 10000 men to quash the revolt.

• Following the revolt, Phillip II established the Council of Troubles to enforce Catholicism within the territory and obedience to the Spanish crown

• They wanted to ensure the Spanish Inquisition was in place to stop Protestantism spreading

• Elizabeth was concerned as Alba had a large army close to England and she didn’t want to be seen as Europe’s leading Protestant monarch.

Who were the Sea Beggars 1567?

• Some Dutch rebels escaped and took to the waters. Tehy raided Spanish ships which went to the Duke of Alba in the English Channel

• In 1567, Elizabeth allowed them to harbour at English ports.

What was the Genoese Loan 1568?

• Spanish soldiers carrying gold for Spanish soldiers harboured in an English ports to protect themselves from the Sea Beggars

• Elizabeth argued that as it was Genoa’s gold, and not Phillip’s, she could take it.

• Therefore, she took the gold

What was Elizabeth trying to achieve with her foreign goals?

The goal was to try and make Spain’s job in the Netherlands as difficult in the hope that they allow the Dutch to continue governing themselves. However it was risky as

Two main factors that caused this threat were:

1. In 1568, Mary, Queen of Scots, fled Scotland and came to England. Many Catholics believed she had a stronger claim to the throne than Elizabeth I.

2. In 1569, the Rising of the North, also known as the Revolt of the Northern Earls had taken place. Senior Catholic English Earls started a rebellion and had hoped Alba’s troops would land in Hartlepool to support them. This rebellion encouraged Phillip II and the pope to back further plots against Elizabeth and topple the English queen.

What was the problem in Scotland?

In 1559, Scotland’s Protestant lords rebelled against Mary of Guise, who was Mary, Queen of Scots mother.

She had been ruling Scotland for her daughter while she was in France with her husband, King Francis II.

The Scottish Protestant lords rebelled because they did not like being ruled by a French, Catholic queen. They approached Elizabeth I for help, however, she was not keen to help in getting rid of a fellow monarch but she knew that, with French help, Mary, Queen of Scots, could attempt to take her throne. Elizabeth therefore secretly sent troops and money to help the Protestant rebels.

The rebellion was successful and ended by the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560, with the Protestant lords taking over the ruling of Scotland.

In 1568, Mary arrived in England seeking Elizabeth’s help.

What did Mary do in Scotland?

In 1565, Mary married her second husband, Henry Stuart, also known as Lord Darnley. Lord Darnley was also Mary’s distant cousin and descended from King Henry VII which also gave him a claim to the English throne.

Her first husband was the King of France, Francis II however he had died less than two years into his marriage with Mary which resulted in the French throne going to his brother. Mary was now a loose end in France and so returned to Scotland only for the Treaty of Edinburgh to effectively hand over control of Scotland to Protestant lords and relinquish her claim on the English throne (without her permission).

In 1566, her son, James was born.

In 1567, her husband, Lord Darnley had been murdered and Mary was suspected of being involved as there were rumours of an affair she was having with the Earl of Bothwell (who would go on to be her third husband). Following Lord Darnley’s death and suspicion of Mary’s involvement in the murder, the Protestant Lords rebelled and forced Mary to abdicate* her throne in favour of her son James.

How did Elizabeth react to Mary coming to England?

Firstly, she did not approve of a lawful monarch being overthrown as this could set a dangerous precedent for herself giving the issues around her own legitimacy.

Secondly, Mary was a threat to her own throne and as long as she lived, Catholics could try and rally to her and attempt to overthrow Elizabeth.

Thirdly, Mary was effectively family as she was related to Elizabeth with both descending from King Henry VII. Elizabeth had never met Mary before however, they had exchanged letters. Mary wanted to meet Elizabeth to persuade her that she did not murder her former husband however Elizabeth refused.

Was Mary guilty or innocent in the court proceedings?

In October 1568, a court heard the case against Mary for the murder of Lord Darnley. Mary argued the court had no right to put a queen on trial and wanted Elizabeth to intervene to prevent the court case however she refused.

At the end of the trial at court, they could not decide if Mary was guilty or innocent. Elizabeth, therefore, placed Mary in captivity in England where she remained a constant threat for a number of years until her execution.

What were Elizabeth’s options with Mary?

Option 1: Help Mary Regain Her Scottish Throne

• This would mean overthrowing Protestants in favour of Catholics and this would not go down well with her Protestant supporters. This would also be in contravention of the Treaty of Edinburgh which Elizabeth had agreed to with Scottish lords.

Option 2: Hand Mary to Scottish Protestant Lords

• Mary had escaped captivity in Scotland and fled to England and the Scottish lords wanted her back. If she did this, however, Mary would be removed from power and potentially killed.

Option 3: Allow Mary To Go Abroad

• Mary could be allowed to go abroad as she had family in France who could look after her. However, Mary might be able to rally support from France and even Spain as both countries were Catholic and were very much against Protestantism.

Option 4: Keep Mary In Captivity In England

• Mary could simply be kept in captivity in England indefinitely. The problem with this is, as long as Mary, Queen of Scots was alive, she could be the focus of Catholic plots against Elizabeth with attempts to replace her as queen.

Option 5: Execute Mary

• There were no grounds to execute Mary. She hadn’t been found guilty in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley and executing her without her having broken any English law could cause problems such as a civil war between Protestants and Catholics.