OCR B GCSE History The Elizabethans

Patronage

God

The Monarch

The nobles and bishops

The gentry (knights, lawyers, merchants)

Everyone else

Full court meetings

* When Elizabeth’s court met, there would be:
* ==Dances, plays== and ==music== in the Great Hall
* ==Feasts== in the Banqueting house
* ==Open-air sermons== in the main yard
* ==Jousting tournaments== in the tilt yard
* ==Hunting expeditions== in St James’s park
* Used meetings to ==impress nobles== with her wealth, power and personality
* Nobles looking to ==gain from patronage==

Nobles

* Had ==great influence== in their lands
* Used by Queen to ==maintain peace== and ==let her know mood== among people
* ==Few had powerful positions== in the court
* If the Queen ==was in favour== of a nobleman he could more easily ==build a network of supporters== among gentry and ==keep land and wealth secure==
* ==If he lost this favour== would ==seek patronage from other leading families==
* Queen ==offered titles, jobs, grants and pensions to wide range== of noble families to ==keep support of all of them==, ==preventing separate groups of nobles joining forces== against each other
* Tried to ==prevent factions== plotting to ==increase their power==
* Queen used ==favour and firmness== to balance different groups, allowed ==some noble Catholics== to attend court so she didn’t lose their complete loyalty

Privy Chamber

* At the heart of the court
* Elizabeth spent most of her time in it, ==talking, reading, playing card games, playing music, or enjoying the company of her pets==
* A small group of ==ladies-in-waiting== looked after the Queen here
* Women usually came from ==favoured noble families, e.g. Anne Russell==
* **Had to show** ==**complete loyalty, once broke the finger of a courtier who got married without her permission**==
* Kept Queen ==informed about court conversations and opinions==
* Some ==earned money from nobles for praising their qualities== to Elizabeth
* Elizabeth would sometimes conduct business from her Private Chambers, with only her ==most trusted courtiers== from the Privy Council ==invited==

Privy Council

* Group of advisors who were ==most important part of government after Queen== who were chosen from ==nobles, gentry and Church==
* Elizabeth ==didn’t play a huge role== on the council but did check in with councillors to help out
* Queen’s ==most trusted courtiers==
* Met ==every day==, with around ==7 or 8 at most meetings==
* ==Offered advice== on finance, trade, law enforcement and defence
* They ==put her chosen policies into action==, even if they didn’t agree
* ==Selected by Queen== and could be ==dismissed at any time==
* Elizabeth ==didn’t allow the council to have too much power or ignore her opinions==, did this through;
* limiting council to ==19 members==
* appointing ==councillors with diffrent viewpoints==
* ==attending small meetings herself==
* ==showing her fierce temper== for no reason
* ==dismissing councillors== from court if they offended her
* ==**discussing policies with courtiers who weren’t councillors**==
* ==**encouraging loyalty**== **by flattering councillors and giving them jobs that allowed them to grow rich**
* ==refusing to marry Robert Dudley==, the Earl of Leicester, ==a leading member of the council==

Sir Francis Walsingham

* ==Well-educated lawyer== who spoke several languages
* Strong Puritan who ==believed English Catholics were a threat==
* ==Never tried to flatter or charm== the Queen and was a ==cold and distant character==
* Believed he was a ==servant of the state== but sometimes used Parliament or courtiers to ==pressurise the Queen==
* Elizabeth ==admired his appetite for work and his loyalty== but ==once got enraged when he criticised her==
* Had ==a fit due to exhaustion== but Elizabeth forced him to work and he died 4 days later on ==7th April 1590==, Queen showed ==no signs of grief==

Sir William Cecil

* From a ==gentry family, well-educated lawyer==, he was a ==moderate Protestant== but ==favoured Puritans more than Elizabeth==
* Intelligent, thoughtful, serious man ==capable of charming the Queen==, ==in tune with Elizabeth on most matters==
* Viewed his role in a ==similar way to Walsingham==, ==tried to change Elizabeth’s mind== on some matters
* Very close to Elizabeth and ==shared similar views== but once ==fell out in 1587 as she thought he had tricked her into killing Mary Queen of Scots==
* ==Died of exhaustion in 1598==, aged 77, Elizabeth was sad upon learning the news of his death

The rebellion of the Earl of Essex

* Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, first appeared at Elizabeth’s court in ==1584== when he was 18 years old
* His youthful strength, good-looks and skills at jousting and hunting added glamour to the court, and he became the ==Queen’s new favourite==
* In ==1587, Elizabeth spent a lot of time== with him in the royal household, organising hunts and royal visits, spent hours together talking and playing cards
* **In** ==**1589, he angered Elizabeth by defying her wishes**== **and joining Sir Francis Drake’s** ==**attack on Lisbon**==
* **In** ==**1590 he broke the custom**== **of the court** ==**by marrying without the Queen’s permission**==**, once again upsetting her, although she forgave him eventually**
* **In** ==**1593, he won a place on the Privy Council**==
* ==**William Cecil’s son Robert was competing with Essex**== **for the role of the Queen’s most trusted advisor**
* In ==**1596, after Essex led an attack on the Spanish port of Cadiz**==, he returned to huge public acclaim, which ==angered Elizabeth and caused her to make Robert Cecil the new Secretary of State==
* Essex was outraged and ==**built an opposition faction**== **at court and in** ==**June 1598**==, in a meeting where Elizabeth was favouring Cecil, Essex turned his back on her, ==causing her to punch him on the ear==, he began to draw his sword but stopped, with the incident causing him to be ==banned from the court for 2 months==
* Trying to impress the Queen he ==led an expedition to put down a rebellion in Ireland==, leaving in ==March 1599==, he failed but awarded knighthoods in the name of the Queen, with her responding by ==sending him a fierce rebuke==, he ==abandoned his army and sailed back to London==
* On ==28th September 1600==, he returned ==rushing into the Queen’s bedchamber,== she ==banned him from court== and ==took away all his government jobs==, leaving him bankrupt
* In ==January 1601==, Essex started to gather ==large groups of supporters at his London home, including courtiers who were out of favour and unemployed soldiers==
* In February he seemingly ==threatened Elizabeth== by arranging a performance of Richard II, including a scene where the king is forced to give up his throne
* The Queen sent 4 Privy Councillors to ==arrest Essex==, but ==he locked them in his house== and took to the streets of London
* He @@r@@==ode through Whitehall with 300 supporters==, expecting the mass of the people to join him which they did not, the ==rebellion collapsed and he was arrested==
* On ==25th February 1601, Essex was beheaded== at the Tower of London, guilty of treason against his King and Country

Parliament

* In her reign of 45 years, Parliament spent only ==35 months== in discussion and debate, with the ==Queen meeting them only 13 times==
* Composed of ==monarch, the House of Lords==, made up of nobles and bishops, ==the House of Commons==, made up of members of the gentry who had been selected to attend by other wealthy citizens
* Needed to introduce ==new punishments== and raise ==new taxes==, in order to give the people’s approval
* Were ==forbidden== from discussing anything to do with ==religion, her marriage, the succession and foreign policy==
* Elizabeth kept control through;
* having ==MPs that were not really elected==, rather selected
* having ==Privy Councillors in the House of Commons and House of Lords==
* having the ==Privy Council organise daily business== in Parliament


* If MPs did not do as she wished, she could reject a law or close Parliament, usually she ==offered a compromise== so that they won some of what they wanted but she still got the laws and taxes she needed

Opposition over religion

* In ==1584 and 1586==, the MPs demanded that the Church of England do away with bishops, at first other MPs ignored the demands but when they decided to discuss the matter ==Elizabeth banned the debate==
* ==3 MPs discussed the idea outside of Parliament== and she had them ==imprisoned for a month==
* ==Two Suffolk Puritans== had been ==hanged in 1583== for ==spreading similar views== without the protection of being an MP
* In ==1593==, ==Puritan MP Peter Wentworth== urged Elizabeth to ==name a Protestant successor==, Elizabeth was furious at his intrusion and ==imprisoned him in the Tower of London==, he ==died 4 years later==

Puritan opposition

* Many of Elizabeth’s ==noisiest and most troublesome== critics in Parliament were ==Puritans==, they had several demands;
* they wanted ==Elizabeth to marry a Protestant prince== and to make arrangements for her successor to be Protestant as well
* they wanted Elizabeth to ==change the way the Church was organised== by removing bishops and allowing local church groups to choose their own leaders, this organisation system was called Presbyterianism
* they ==insisted that MPs had complete freedom of speech== and that they must be allowed to say whatever they liked in Parliament without fear of arrest or punishment
* In ==November 1579==, John Stubbes, a Puritan, ==wrote a pamphlet criticising Elizabeth== for considering a marriage with a French Catholic, the Duke of Anjou, the ==pamphlets were destroyed and Stubbes was arrested==, at first Elizabeth wanted him hanged but in fact she ordered him and his colleague William Page to have their ==right hands cut off==
* After his release in ==1581==, ==he carried on writing== and in ==1589 became an MP==, continuing his criticism of the Queen in the House of Commons, but it didn’t become treasonous
* Unlike Catholics, ==Puritans didn’t express a desire to replace Elizabeth with another monarch==

Local government

* Elizabeth was at the centre of the government but she needed help keeping control in her kingdom of 3 million people
* ==**Lords Lieutenant**== **were officers who had overall responsibility for each county**
* **Elizabeth chose the** ==**most powerful nobleman**== **in the area**
* **The Lord or his deputy spent a lot of time at court and was expected to** ==**inform the Privy Council of any local problems**==
* **He also had to ensure that his county could** ==**provide soldiers**== **to serve the Queen in an emergency**
* **Within the towns,** ==**town affairs were run by councils**== **elected by wealthy citizens**
* The Earl of Worcester was the Lord Lieutenant for Glamorgan and Monmouthshire
* ==Justices of the Peace== did the most to keep society running smoothly
* There were ==40 in each county== and they usually ==came from educated gentry families==
* The Queen appointed them on the ==advice of a trusted courtier== who knew them in person, becoming a JP gave a man ==considerable influence==, but the work was ==unpaid so he needed to have income from land or business==
* **William Lambard, a JP in Kent and wrote a 600-page book that described the duties that consisted of;**
* ==**enforcing the Poor Laws**==
* ==**collecting taxes**==
* ==**setting wage levels**==
* ==**arranging road repairs**==
* They constantly received new orders from the Privy Council, every 3 months at the quarter sessions, they ==judged crimes== such as assault, burglary, alehouse brawls and slander against the Queen, twice a year judges from London visited each county to hear more serious cases
* Local and national governments largely ==relied on public punishment== to deter crime as there was no police force so catching criminals was difficult
* ==Minor crimes== would be punished by ==time in the public pillory== while more ==major offences== were punished through the use of fines which added to Elizabeth’s personal funds

Progresses and pageants

* Every summer, Elizabeth went on ==progresses== with her advisers, officials and servants
* They stayed ==in the country houses of noblemen==, with the Queen trying ==to be seen by as many people as possible==, leaving a lasting impression of majesty and affection
* Elizabeth expected her hosts to ==provide comfortable accommodation== and ==impressive entertainment== for her court, which was very expensive
* During a pageant held by the ==Earl of Hertford in June 1591==, the earl created an artificial lake, castles and a warship, with the earl trying to ==flatter the Queen as well as show off his own education==
* Very few people could attend these events and so the Privy Council developed ==Accession Day pageants==, when, on the ==17 November== each year ==towns and villages tried to outdo each other with bell-ringing and bonfires==

Publications and plays

* There were never more than 60 printing presses during Elizabeth’s reign so it was relatively ==easy for the Privy Council to sensor publications== they disapproved of, punishing the writers and printers severely
* They published their own books ==defending policies such as the execution of Catholic priests==
* Elizabeth’s final speech to Parliament in 1601 was ==published by her own printer==, Robert Barker, and was ==circulated within 2 days==, with the Privy Council intending to ==show the people that Elizabeth loved them==
* The Privy Council also ==encouraged others to spread favourable views== of the Queen to all who could read, e.g. Elizabeth helped Edmund Spenser’s poem *The Faerie Queene* to become popular as it praised a Queen very like her
* Nobles knew Elizabeth ==enjoyed plays and often brought acting groups to court==, with the plays often complimenting the Queen
* The Queen and her government allowed ==favourable plays to spread==, however the Spanish Ambassador was upset at the way the king, ==Philip II, and the Pope were mocked in plays==
* The government allowed this but briefly ==shut down London’s theatres in 1597== when a play seemed to criticise Elizabeth but the ==theatres reopened soon after and the playwrights only spent a short time in prison==

Portraits and pennies

* ==Very few of Elizabeth’s people ever saw her portraits== and instead ==saw her on pennies==, which were not flattering
* The Privy Council ==did little to control the Queen’s image== but ==tried to control the number of quality images that could be seen==
* In ==1584==, they ==considered controlling her image by giving the rights to paint her to just 2 artists, Nicholas Hilliard and George Gower==
* In ==1596== they ==ordered any portrait where she looked old or ill to be burned==
* In ==1596==, ==a new pattern of Elizabeth’s face was created== to replace the one issued in 1575, with the pattern made to make Elizabeth look younger than she was and hide the fact she was 63 with black teeth and false hair
* In ==1889== an oil painting of Elizabeth was ==found in a cottage where an Elizabethan farmer lived==, implying that her image reached far and wide although some historians can’t believe a farmer would have a portrait
* Elizabeth expected all of her courtiers to ==wear miniature portraits of her==, she had some miniatures made for her favourites but never commissioned her own full-size portraits
* Wealthy courtiers often ==commissioned portraits== of her ==to win her favour==

Prayers and preaching

* A law required ==everyone to attend church on Sundays== and use the same prayer book
* At every service, worshippers would say this ==‘Prayer for the Queen’s Majesty‘==, which reinforced in people’s minds ==their duty of loyalty and gratitude to Elizabeth, God’s chosen ruler==
* A ==service of thanksgiving== was held ==every year on Accession Day== when the Queen’s carefully chosen church leaders ==wrote special sermons, prayers and songs for priests to use at these services==, thanking God for ==providing a strong Protestant queen== and for ==protecting her from Catholic threats==
* ==All preachers had a government licence==

The two main laws governing religion (1559)

* @@**The Act of Uniformity** (1559)@@ - @@all worship had to be the same@@, every week everyone had to attend a church service that followed the @@Book of Common Prayer in English@@ with those who didn’t attend forced to pay a fine
* @@**The Act of Supremacy** (1559)@@ - stated @@Elizabeth was the supreme governor of the Church in England@@ and that any Roman Catholic who @@insisted that the Pope was the head of God’s church@@ on Earth @@was a traitor@@ for daring to challenge the Queen’s supremacy over all her nation’s affairs

Thomas Tresham and other Catholics

* @@Sir Thomas Tresham@@ came from a Catholic gentry family but him and his family attended the parish church every Sunday and worshipped according to the Protestant book of common prayer, they were still Roman Catholics at heart but were prepared to go along with the laws that governed religion
* However, unlike Tresham, many Catholics dropped their Catholic faith as;
* @@most priests accepted Elizabeth’s changes@@
* weekly Protestant sermons @@gradually altered people’s beliefs@@
* few Elizabehtans @@could afford the fines@@ for non-attendance at church
* @@all marriages and baptisms@@ had to follow the @@Protestant prayer book@@


* There were millions of Catholics who were still @@Catholics and loyal to the Pope@@ but did @@nothing to challenge the Queen@@, Elizabeth was happy with this, she allowed Catholics to attend court, and, in strong Catholic areas she @@didn’t insist that Justices of the Peace should strictly enforce church attendance@@, she believed that eventually the English Catholic community would quietly die away

Conformers

* A @@large proportion of English Catholics@@, especially in the south and east
* @@Chose to drop their Catholic faith and to conform@@, becoming Protestants
* Did it as it @@made life easier@@, they @@avoided@@ the @@social and financial costs@@ of hanging on to Catholicism, persuasive sermons from Protestant preachers, with no Catholic priests to argue back, @@made people believe that the old Catholic ways were superstitious and corrupt@@

Church papists

* Most English Catholics in the @@north and west@@
* Attended @@Protestant church services@@, but @@kept Catholic beliefs with some loyalty to the Pope@@
* Did it as they @@valued the centuries-old Catholic teachings@@, it @@avoided social and financial costs@@ of being a recusant, they @@hoped that the country would return to Catholicism@@ when Elizabeth died as her successor was the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots

Plotters

* Very, very few English Catholics, probably @@never more than 200@@
* Usually @@refused to attend Protestant church services@@ as they were fiercely loyal to Catholic beliefs and to the Pope, @@plotted to overthrow@@ the Queen and return the kingdom to its Catholic way
* Did it as they @@valued the Catholic teachings@@, believed Elizabeth was not the rightful Queen ever since her excommunication in 1570, wanted to replace her with Mary Queen of Scots

Recusants

* @@Several thousand@@ English Catholics, especially in the @@north and west@@, usually @@wealthy@@ as they had to pay a fine
* @@Refused to attend@@ Protestant church @@services@@, @@kept Catholic beliefs@@ with some loyalty to the Pope, arranged their own services of Mass
* Did it as they @@valued centuries-old Catholic teachings@@, @@could afford@@ to pay recusancy @@fines@@ and had @@high social status@@, especially with other Catholics, they @@hoped that the country would return to Catholicism@@ when Elizabeth died as her successor would be Mary, Queen of Scots

The Act of Persuasions (1581)

* @@Raised the fine for recusancy@@ by 10000% to @@£20 per month@@, roughly the income of most landowning gentry families
* Added an extra @@fine of £200 pounds per year@@ for persistent recusants
* @@Imposed a fine of £66@@ on anyone who attended a service of mass
* @@**Allowed the imprisonment of recusants**@@ **who failed to pay their fines within three months**
* **Said that anyone who** @@**persuaded a Protestant to become a Catholic**@@ **was** @@**guilty of treason**@@ **against the Queen’s supremacy and should be put to death**
* **Only the** @@**wealthiest Catholics could pay these fines**@@**, Thomas Tresham was one of these which cost him his money and reputation and his patronage was ended**

Arrests and imprisonment

* In @@1581@@, @@Tresham was arrested@@ along with other influential Catholics, he was sent to prison in London and was charged with @@allowing Catholic priests to stay secretly in his home@@, he explained that this might have happened without his knowledge as many people stayed at his house, he swore he was loyal to the Queen and was released after paying another fine
* Over the next @@15 years@@, Tresham, like many other recusants from the gentry, @@was in and out of prison@@, every time they were released they @@paid another fine@@ but they could afford this so they still didn’t attend church
* Some even @@attended secret services of Mass@@ in prison, taken by priests who were fellow prisoners, in @@1582@@, @@four priests broke into York prison@@ to say Mass with Catholics there, one was captured as they climbed out

Act against Priests (1585)

* @@Allowed the death penalty@@ for @@anyone who offered shelter or aid@@ to a Roman Catholic priest
* @@Soldiers might appear@@ at a @@Catholic house at any time@@ and @@carry out a search@@
* In @@1585@@, Thomas Tresham @@organised a petition@@ to the Queen @@promising the loyalty of her Catholic subjects@@, but it made no difference, the arrests continued
* Happened as the @@government saw priests@@ as the @@heart of the Catholic resistance@@

Suffering (1586-1603)

* Financial suffering;
* the Queen wanted to increase her income from @@fining Catholics@@
* **in 1587, another** @@**Recusancy Act**@@ **allowed the government to take** @@**two thirds of the land owned by any recusant**@@ **who had fallen behind with paying fines**
* even the wealthiest Catholics like Tresham were being @@driven into debt@@, with poorer Catholics suffering even more
* Physical suffering;
* in @@1586, Margeret Clitherow@@, a butcher’s wife from York, was @@accused of sheltering priests@@ and she tried to avoid execution by @@refusing to plea@@ guilty or not guilty at her trial but the law allowed her captors to encourage her to enter a plea through ‘pressing’, where @@she was stretched out with a large, sharp stone beneath her back and a door with weights on it placed on her front@@, she died after her ribcage burst and the air was pressed out of her body
* **in 1588, the Catholic King of Spain, Philip II, sent his Armada to invade England and return it to its Catholic faith, so Elizabeth’s government** @@**arrested all the most influential Catholics**@@ **to stop them leading an uprising in England in support of the Spanish,** @@**11 Catholic laymen were executed in 1588**@@ **for aiding priests or for encouraging Protestants to convert to Catholicism**
* Social suffering;
* In @@1590@@, after his release, Thomas Tresham described the mood of Catholics by describing himself as @@‘disgraced, debased and scorned‘@@, when he died in 1605, @@his wealth was gone along with respect for his family name@@, he was still a Catholic but despite the hardships for his faith, he declared his complete loyalty to Elizabeth and her successor, King James I
* **In 1593, the government added to Catholics’ isolation with the** @@**Act Restraining Recusants**@@ **which required all Catholics over the age of 16 to** @@**stay within five miles of their house**@@ **at all times and** @@**banned large gatherings of Catholics**@@

Priests

* Most priests who refused to accept Elizabeth’s new Protestant church in 1559 @@left the country@@ and became exiles in countries abroad
* Which meant that when she was @@excommunicated by Pope Pius V in 1570@@, and he told English Catholics she was not the rightful Queen of England and not to obey her laws, few English Catholics listened without the leadership of their priests
* The most important priest in exile was @@William Allen@@ who saw how @@English Catholics desperately needed priests@@ if they were to keep their faith and worship God at the service of Mass, @@Allen also ran two seminaries; one in France, the other in Rome@@
* In the @@1570s@@, two different types of priests arrived in England;
* @@Seminary priests@@, who were @@young English Catholics@@ who @@trained at seminaries abroad@@, by @@1603, 438 priests@@ had been sent to England, they were trained to support Catholics in England by @@leading services of Mass and hearing confessions of their sins@@, but were told @@not to try to convert@@ Protestants to Catholicism
* Jesuit priests, who were specially @@trained to persuade people to become Catholics or deepen their Catholic faith@@, had direct loyalty to the Pope, first to arrive were @@Robert Persons and Edmund Campion in 1580@@

Secret priests’ arrival

* @@Robert Persons and Edmund Campion@@ were smuggled, in disguise, to England in 1580
* **They were in danger as** @@**two seminary priests had been executed as traitors in 1577**@@**, they were also in danger as the English government saw Catholic priests as** @@**traitors serving the Pope**@@**,** @@**challenging Elizabeth’s rule**@@
* Priests usually @@stayed in the gentry’s country houses@@, with @@priest holes that allowed them to hide@@ if JPs searched for them, celebrating Mass and teaching Catholics
* In 1580, Persons met Tresham which @@caused Tresham’s faith to come alive and he dared to stand against Elizabeth’s religious laws@@, which was alarming to the government as over 100 new priests had arrived by 1580, causing @@recusancy to increase@@
* **William Allen and the Pope ordered the priests to concentrate their work on** @@**wealthy Catholic gentry**@@ **who could** @@**educate other Catholics**@@ **and whose educated sons might enter priesthood**
* The priests travelled in disguise under false names but it was a struggle, with Campion stating in @@November 1580 that he ‘cannot escape the hands of the enemies who have so many eyes, so many tongues, so many scouts and crafts‘@@

Walsingham’s spies

* The Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham, ran a network of spies and informers to learn about the plans and movements of Catholic priests
* Four of the hundreds of spies who worked for Walsingham included;
* @@**Andy Munday**@@**, the son of a London tradesman who went to Rome and** @@**pretended to be a Catholic and heard English priests planning to re-convert England**@@ **and** @@**wrote a very influential anti-Catholic propaganda book**@@ **that earned him** @@**lots of money and he went on to be a successful poet and playwright**@@
* @@**William Parry**@@**, the son of a Welsh gentry family who, when he was deep in debt, offered to spy on Catholics abroad, however, he** @@**appears to have joined the Catholic side as a double agent and in 1585 was caught plotting to kill the Queen,**@@ **but he argued this was a ruse to impress the Catholics, he was** @@**tried as a traitor and executed**@@
* @@Charles Sledd@@, from a humble background, working as a servant for a Catholic Englishman in Rome, @@overheard plans to kill the Queen@@ and @@passed these plans on@@ in great detail in a file that named over 300 disloyal English Catholics, seems to have acted from a genuine desire to keep England Protestant
* @@George Eliot@@, worked as a steward for a Catholic gentry family and when he committed a murder @@turned to the Earl of Leicester for help@@, in return for a royal pardon, @@passed on secrets about Catholic gentry families who hid priests@@, later becoming a full-time priest catcher

The mission of Edmund Campion

* Campion was captured in @@**July 1581 at Lyford Grange in Oxfordshire**@@, along with three others, after two days of Eliot and several others searching for him
* In his own mind, Campion was a @@loyal Englishman who disagreed with Elizabeth@@ on religion but to Elizabeth and her government, @@he could not be loyal if he opposed her supremacy over the church@@ and took orders from the Pope, in their minds he was a traitor
* Campion was @@tortured@@ on the rack, a machine that @@stretched his arms and legs@@, during his torture he @@revealed the names of Catholics who had helped him@@, one was Tresham, which was why he was arrested, but he @@insisted he never encouraged rebellion against Elizabeth@@
* @@**At his trial in November 1581**@@, the @@only witnesses@@ who swore they heard Campion call on Catholics to rebel against the Queen were @@Andrew Munday, George Eliot and Charles Sledd@@, despite this, he was @@found guilty and condemned to death@@
* His captors told him to beg for forgiveness from the Queen but he said he had no need for forgiveness as he had done nothing wrong and prayed that Elizabeth have a long and prosperous reign
* On @@**1st December 1581, at Tyburn in London**@@, he was @@hanged@@ and taken down to be @@cut open while still conscious@@, and @@his internal organs were burned@@ in front of him and a large crowd, @@parts of his body were then put on display@@ to deter others from following his example

Propaganda and persistence

* @@Robert Persons managed to leave England in 1581@@ along with another Catholic, @@Richard Rowlande@@, who had @@written an account of Campion’s death@@ and accused Elizabeth of murdering him for his beliefs rather than any act of treason
* In @@1587@@, Rowlande (under his grandfather’s name of Verstegan) @@published books that claimed to show how Elizabeth treated Catholics@@, @@torture was used far more under Elizabeth than any other English monarch@@ and Rowlande particularly criticised her chief torturer, @@Richard Topcliffe@@, a deeply sadistic man who tortured prisoners in his own home
* Elizabeth’s government countered this propaganda by @@publishing books@@ that gave its own viewpoint and even @@wrote a pamphlet justifying its use of torture@@
* **Robert Persons and William Allen became more extreme in their opposition to Elizabeth after the death of Campion and** @@**sent many priests to England**@@
* **To counter this, in** @@**1585**@@**,** @@**Elizabeth’s Act against Priests**@@ **said that any priest ordained under the authority of the Pope was** @@**guilty of treason just for setting foot in England**@@ **and if they were caught, they were guaranteed to be executed**
* **When put on trial after 1585, priests had to answer the so-called** @@**‘Bloody Question‘**@@ **which asked them** @@**whose side they would take if a foreign power were to obey the Pope and invade England to remove Elizabeth from the throne**@@**, if they replied they would support Elizabeth, their credibility as a priest was gone and if they responded the Pope, they were a traitor**

Final years of failure

* The number of Catholic priests towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign, when it was clear that she would die but they achieved very little and their attempts to rebuild Catholicism failed for a variety of reasons;
* they @@did not concentrate their work@@ in the north and west @@where recusancy was strongest@@
* they @@concentrated their work on the gentry@@, neglecting lower-class Catholics who then became Protestant
* priests like Campion were @@too saintly to fight against the government@@ and so there was a political struggle
* seminary priests and Jesuits @@spent too much time arguing@@ about what they should try to do

Mary Queen of Scots

* Mary @@fled to England in 1568@@ after powerful Protestant lords rose up against her Roman Catholic rule
* Instead of helping her cousin, @@Elizabeth kept her prisoner@@ as she did not want to start a war with Scotland and Mary had ruled badly and was accused of murdering her husband, so there was good reason for keeping her in England
* However, her decision to keep Mary in England caused lots of problems;
* Mary was directly descended from Henry VII so if Elizabeth died without children, @@Mary would be the next Queen and convert the country back to Catholicism@@ which gave English Catholics hope
* almost as soon as Mary arrived, English Catholics started causing trouble for Elizabeth with a @@Catholic rebellion in the north of England in 1569@@ and @@a plot to murder Elizabeth being discovered in 1571@@, although Mary had no direct part in these, her role as a figurehead for revolt was stirring trouble from Catholics that had not been there before she had arrived
* Mary’s presence as a @@ready-made Catholic replacement@@ caused the Pope to excommunicate Elizabeth and led to a new wave of English Catholic priests working in England, strengthening Catholic resistance
* @@By 1580, Mary had been living in fairly comfortable captivity for 12 years@@ and she refused to allow any English court to put her on trial for the murder of her husband in Scotland so Elizabeth used this fact to justify keeping her cousin in captivity, which @@turned English Catholics against their own Queen and a few were drawn into plots to release Mary@@
* Her presence meant all Catholics were under suspicion which is why Walsingham’s spies kept them and Mary under such close observation, especially after @@1580 when Pope Gregory XIII announced it was not a sin for a Catholic to murder Elizabeth@@

The Throckmorton Plot (1583)

* @@In 1583@@, Walsingham’s spies told him that the @@Jesuit Robert Persons@@ had recruited a young Catholic, @@Francis Throckmorton@@, into a plot against Elizabeth
* He @@was arrested and tortured@@ and confessed to @@working with the Duke of Guise@@, a @@powerful French Catholic@@ who was a relative of Mary Queen of Scots
* The Duke was @@planning to invade England@@ and put Mary on the throne with the @@support of Philip II and the Pope@@
* @@Throckmorton was executed@@ but Mary was safe as there was no evidence that she had set up the plan
* William Cecil persuaded Elizabeth to let Parliament pass a @@Bond of Association@@ which stated that @@anyone plotting to kill Elizabeth should be hunted down and executed@@ and so should any person ‘for whom such a detestable act shall be attempted‘, meaning that @@Mary could be executed even if she knew nothing about a plot to put her on the throne@@

The Babington Plot (1586)

* In @@July 1586@@, a rich young Catholic, @@Anthony Babington@@, met a @@Jesuit priest called John Ballard@@ who persuaded Babington to join a @@plot to kill Elizabeth@@ and place Mary on the English throne
* Babington found what he thought was a safe way of communicating by @@placing coded letters inside waterproof tubes and hid them in beer barrels@@ that went in and out of the house in Staffordshire where she was being held
* Ballard and Babington had no idea that one of Walsingham’s cleverest spies, @@Thomas Phelippes, had intercepted them all, broken the codes and made copies of the letters@@ before sending the original messages on
* In early August, Babington and Ballard @@were arrested and under torture@@, @@confirmed that Mary had agreed to the plan@@ and in @@September they were executed@@

Mary’s trial and execution

* On @@12th October 1586@@, Mary was @@put on trial at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire@@
* She skilfully fought her case arguing that;
* God had made her a queen and @@no court had the right to try her@@ (which Elizabeth secretly agreed with)
* no original messages existed, so @@evidence could have been forged@@, which some was
* Babington, Ballard and others @@gave their evidence against her under torture@@
* @@Mary was found guilty@@, but @@Elizabeth refused to sign her death warrant@@ for several weeks as she hated the idea of killing another Queen
* When she did sign the warrant, William Cecil immediately sent it to Fotheringhay and @@Mary was executed on the 8th February 1587@@
* @@Elizabeth was furious@@ as she said she never gave the order to send the warrant and was innocent of her cousin’s death, although many historians argue Elizabeth knew exactly what she was doing

England and Spain’s rivalry

* @@By 1580@@ a rivalry was being established as;
* @@Elizabeth I refused to marry Philip II@@ at the start of her reign
* **throughout the 1570s, English sailors such as** @@**Drake and Hawkins acted like pirates**@@**, attacking Spanish ports and ships in the New World**
* **Spain ruled the Netherlands and Philip II was** @@**angry when Elizabeth sent money to aid the Protestant Dutch rebels**@@ **there in the 1570s**
* Philip II was a @@deeply religious Catholic@@ and in 1580, when @@Pope Gregory said that it would not be a sin to kill Elizabeth@@, Phillip started to support plotters who wanted to replace her with Mary Queen of Scots

The Anglo-Spanish war begins (1585)

* @@In 1584@@, a @@Catholic subject of Philip II shot and killed the leader of the Dutch Protestant rebels, Prince William of Orange@@, the murder shocked Elizabeth as she knew the same could happen to her
* Elizabeth’s advisers had been trying to get her to send an army to help the Dutch rebels and after this murder she finally agreed and in @@1585 she signed a treaty with the Dutch rebels and sent the Earl of Leicester with an army of 7,000 men to fight against the Spanish@@ in the Netherlands, England and Spain were at war
* Despite Dudley’s poor leadership, the @@English troops did stop Spanish advances in the Netherlands@@ and at the same time Drake sailed to the West Indies and @@attacked the Spanish ports@@ there and returned with treasure from Spanish ships

The Spanish Armada (1588)

* @@Philip II decided to launch a crusade@@ and he started to build an armada that was to sail from Spain to the Netherlands and @@collect an army of 20,000 troops@@ led by Philip’s best general, the @@Duke of Parma@@, and the Armada would then carry his army to England


* A surprise @@attack on the port of Cadiz in 1587@@ damaged many of the Armada’s ships and delayed its sailing by months, both this and the execution of Mary Queen of Scots in the same year, made Philip more determined to succeed and @@by July 1588 the Armada was ready to sail@@
* **In England in 1588, the government’s campaign to catch Catholic priests reached new heights while more recusants than ever were rounded up by JPs and sent to prison, including Tresham who still insisted he was still loyal to the Queen**
* **The government was** @@**determined to stop any English Catholics**@@ **from** @@**leading a rising in support**@@ **of the Spanish army invading**
* In the end, Philip’s army failed as;
* **Philip put the** @@**Duke of Medina Sidonia**@@**, who had little experience in sailing,** @@**in charge of the Armada**@@
* **the** @@**Armada of 130 ships**@@ **sailed up the English Channel** @@**chased by English ships**@@ **and then** @@**waited at Calais**@@ **for the Duke of Parma’s army**
* @@Dutch ships blocked@@ the Duke of Parma’s army in the Netherlands @@stopping it from joining up@@ with the Armada
* the @@English set fire to some old ships@@ and sent them into the armada as fireships causing the @@Spanish to panic and cut their anchors and sail north@@
* near @@Gravelines in France@@, the English ships attacked the Spanish and one Spanish ship sank, the @@Spanish guns were unreliable@@, unlike the English ones, @@1,000 Spanish men died while only 50 English were only killed@@
* **the Armada was driven north by the winds and** @@**headed back to Spain by sailing north around**@@
* **powerful** @@**storms wrecked about 44 Spanish ships**@@ **off Scotland and Ireland and only** @@**80 ships returned to Spain**@@

The war (1589-1604)

* @@**1589**@@ **- Francis Drake led an** @@**‘English Armada‘ to attack Portugal**@@ **and stir the Portuguese to revolt against Spain, it was** @@**an expensive failure**@@
* @@**1594**@@ **- the** @@**northern Netherlands became a secure Protestant area**@@**, virtually independent from Spain and while Spain still ruled a weakened southern Netherlands they were much less likely to invade England**
* @@**1595**@@ - @@Francis Drake and John Hawkins died@@ at sea while attempting to raid Spanish ports and ships in the New World
* @@**1596**@@ **-** @@**England formed an alliance with France and the Protestant Netherlands**@@ **against Spain**
* @@1596@@ - The @@Earl of Essex led a successful raid on the Spanish port of Cadiz@@
* @@1596 & 1597@@ - Phillip II sent @@second and third Armadas@@ but both were @@wrecked by storms@@
* @@1601@@ - a @@Spanish army arrived in Ireland@@ with the intention of @@aiding a Catholic rebellion started by the Earl of Tyrone@@, hoping to @@create a base for the invasion of England@@, the Spanish force was @@defeated@@ and Tyrone’s @@rebellion@@ finally @@ended in 1603@@
* @@1604@@ - one year after Elizabeth’s death, @@the war with Spain was ended by the Treaty of London@@, having lasted almost 20 years

England’s Catholics by 1603

* By the time Elizabeth died, very @@few Catholics remained@@ as almost all of them had given up their faith or were attending Protestant church services without complaint
* @@Philip II died in 1598@@ and his son, @@Philip III was a weak ruler@@ and after the death of Mary Queen of Scots, there was @@no obvious Catholic to replace Elizabeth@@ and her most likely heir, @@James VI of Scotland was Protestant@@
* In @@1605@@, a small group of English Catholics launched the @@Gunpowder Plot@@, with one of the members of this group being @@Francis Tresham@@, the son of Thomas Tresham, who was clearly a threat to society
* For the next 200 years, English Catholics were sneered at as @@‘papists‘@@, @@treated as second-class citizens@@ and were still @@suspected of being ‘dangerous people‘@@

Gentry

* Food
* gentry houses were often surrounded by gardens, orchards, and estate farms which ensured their owners always had a plentiful supply of food
* they had rich and varied diets, which was usually demonstrated through feasts when they would eat beef, pork, venison, goose, swan, pheasant and a wide range of small birds, a fish course could also include salmon, eel, cod, pickled herring and pike (which cost 30 times the daily wage of a labourer)
* guests would drink fine wine imported from Italy and France and would sometimes have a banquet, a sweet course
* Land and power
* the wealth of the Elizabethan gentry came from their ownership of land and although only 2% of the Elizabethan population were gentry, they owned over half the land in England
* the rents from their estates meant they did not have to do manual work which is what set them apart from the rest of Elizabethan society
* ownership of the land was what gave the gentry power as it meant they could be JPs or MPs
* there was a divide between the gentry and ‘common people‘ that could be crossed if men who made their money in trade or law bought land, meaning they could enjoy the wealth, status and power of an Elizabethan gentleman
* Example
* Sir Edward Phelips was from a landowning family who had lived in the village of Montacute in Somerset since the 1400s
* He became a successful lawyer and in the 1580s he became an MP and was later knighted by James I and in 1604 he was chosen as Speaker of the House of Commons
* In 1587, he inherited his father’s property in Montacute and decided to build a new house that would show his wealth and status and through the 1590s, builders, glaziers and carpenters created a huge new house for him which was finished in 1601

Middling sort

* Built up of craftsmen and tradesmen in towns and husbandmen, who were farmers who rented a farm of about 5-50 acres and yeomen, who often owned more than 50 acres of land and employed farm labourers
* Houses
* houses had chimneys which meant they could have ceilings as smoke no longer had to escape through the rafters, often had two storeys and glass windows so their houses were relatively comfortable
* houses often had 5-10 rooms which usually consisted of; the hall, the main eating and living area in the house, the parlour, the living and sleeping area next to the hall, chambers, rooms on the second floor where servants and children slept, service rooms, which consisted of a kitchen, brew-house, bake-house and dairy
* sometimes they had servants but most of the time the housewife did most of the housework herself
* Food
* yeomen’s farms provided beef, mutton and pork but middling families did not eat exotic meats enjoyed by the gentry
* they often ate bread known as ‘yeoman bread‘, made of wheat flour with some bran left in as they would save the white flour for baking for their guests
* their gardens and orchards would provide a variety of fruit and vegetables although they wouldn’t have had luxuries like grapes or new exotic vegetables
* they drank beer or mead as their incomes would not stretch to wine enjoyed by the gentry
* Example
* Richard Clare, a yeoman farmer at the beginning of the sixteenth century, had a house with two floors, a large chimney and glass windows

Labouring poor

* Made up about 50% of the population of England, with most working in the countryside on the farms of yeomen and husbandmen, working from dawn until dusk
* Few were employed for the whole year, at times when demand was low they struggled to pay their rent, buy food and fuel
* Some poor labourers built themselves cottages on wasteland or on the edge of the commons but an Act in 1589 aimed to stop that by stating that all new cottages had to have at least 4 acres of land
* Houses
* had small, poorly built houses which had no upper rooms or chimneys and no glass windows and, despite the small window openings, the houses were very dark inside
* their houses often had only two rooms, each with a bare earth floor, with the hall usually having only a table, bench and some wooden bowls, platters and spoons and the chamber containing a wooden bed with a mattress stuffed with straw
* Food
* bread was their main food which was mostly made of barley or rye as wheat was too expensive
* they also ate Pottage, a thick soup made from vegetables grown in the garden
* when times were good, they ate eggs, cheese, fish or bacon and they could have drunk beer
* when the harvests were bad in 1594, 1595 and 1596 they often struggled to feed themselves and their families and many went hungry as grain prices soared

Husbands and wives

* Men usually married in their late-20s while women usually married in their mid-20s, they married late as they had to save up so they could set up their homes, however, gentry families didn’t need to save up so they married earlier
* Single women occasionally gave birth but it was uncommon, sex outside marriage was forbidden by the Church, but up to 30% of Elizabethan brides were pregnant when they married, indicating many Elizabethan couples had sex when they decided to marry or were encouraged to marry after a pregnancy was discovered
* Members of the gentry couldn’t decide who they married, middling parents sometimes gave land, money and furniture to their children so parental approval could be important, but most of the time young people from middling and labouring families were free to marry who they wished
* Elizabethan wives were expected to obey their husbands at all times and not be scolding or domineering, while husbands were expected to treat their wives with respect and not be violent or abusive
* When marriages broke down they would usually end in informal separation as a divorce would require a private Act of Parliament, however, broken families were often common due to early deaths of husbands or wives

Parents and children

* Nobles and the gentry had large families but they were uncommon as, despite a lack of contraception, and high birth rates, children often died young due to low hygiene and safety standards and a lack of medical treatment, around 25% of children died before the age of 10
* Some gentry families used ‘wet nurses‘ to care for and breastfeed their children, but most Elizabethan mothers looked after their children and formed strong emotional bonds with their children and showed concern when they were ill, grief when they died and pride in their children’s achievements
* From the age of seven, wealthy children would go to school, while children from poorer families would work on the farm or in the house, gathering wood, scaring birds, minding babies, or helping at harvest time
* At the age of 12 or 13, most boys left home to work as apprentices or to work as farm servants, girls would also leave at this age, working as servants in the houses of other families, until their mid-20s they would live in the houses of other families, gaining skills that would help them in adult life
* Elizabethan children were expected to obey their parents, but sometimes children ignored their parents’ wishes or were disrespectful and arguments between fathers and sons were quite common and physical punishment was widespread in Elizabethan England, although there is no evidence to show cruelty to children was more common than today

Wider family

* People didn’t usually live with their wider family, occasionally if they were caring for an elderly parent or orphaned child, or in the large houses of gentry families
* Few people had wider relatives living in the same village, due to Elizabethan children working in other people’s houses, leading to the scattering of families, however, many people had wider relatives living in nearby villages and towns, with few having relatives living abroad
* Wider family was often not important in Elizabethan England, with people often focusing on their close family when writing wills, and often spending lots of time with their neighbours, however, the gentry often showed a strong interest in their wider family and some middling families also having close links with their wider kin

Settled poor

* People living in towns who were living in poverty made up 30% of the urban population
* Many of the settled poor were children below the age of 16, whose chances of surviving into adulthood were slim as they did not have enough food to eat and often suffered from illness and stood little chance of becoming an apprentice or servant
* Another large group among the settled poor were women who had been abandoned by their husbands,
* For example, Alice Reade, aged 40 from Norwich, whose husband had left her with 3 children and a baby, Alice rented a room and earned a little money spinning yarn, her 9-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter also helped the family to survive by spinning
* However, the largest group among the settled poor were the elderly, particularly widows who were often women who tried to make money spinning yarn, washing clothes or begging on the streets, and, in times of plague, risked their lives taking a job as a carer for the sick and dying

Vagrant poor

* Usually young, unmarried men and women who wandered from town to town looking for work alone or in twos and threes, or occasionally whole families
* Sometimes they found seasonal work but more often they were hustled on their way by fearful and suspicious villagers
* Vagrants who were reluctant to move on were whipped out of local parishes by local constables
* The bodies of vagrants who had died of cold and hunger were often found in barns and under hedges, and their burials made sad entries in the parish registers
* For example, a body found in Terling, Essex which entry read; ‘Buried 9 December 1592, a poor woman who died in the barne at the parsonage whose name we could not learne‘

Causes of poverty

* The main reason for the increase in poverty after 1580 was the growing population, with the population rising from 2.4 million in 1520 to 4.1 million by 1600
* In order to feed the population, new land was brought into cultivation and new farming methods were introduced but agriculture failed to meet demand and as a result, the prices of everything, but especially wheat, rose
* In 1586, 1595, 1596 and 1597, the harvests failed due to bad weather and food prices soared
* **In the early 1580s, there was a** **decrease in demand for English woollen cloth** **which further** **increased unemployment** **and the number of vagrants looking for work**
* **More frequent outbreaks of plague caused disruption to local economies and added to people’s misery**
* For poor families from 1597 to 1599, it was a time of crisis, large areas of England suffered from famine and there were huge increases in the number of burials as a result of starvation

Responding to the problem

* The late Elizabethans divided the unemployed poor into three categories;
* the impotent poor who were physically unable to work through age or illness
* the able-bodied poor who wanted to work but could not find it
* vagabonds who chose to avoid work
* The government ensured vagabonds were harshly punished and from 1572 there was a law which stated that vagabonds above the age of 14 should be whipped and burned through the ear with a hot iron - the hole was to be as big as a penny
* Anyone above the age of 18 who became a vagrant having already been caught could be hanged
* **In** **1589****, the government further** **tightened the law on vagrancy** **by** **prohibiting people from giving vagrants shelter** **in their homes**
* The government was slower to make provision for the impotent and able-bodied poor so it was often up to individual towns to raise money and support the impotent poor and in providing work for the unemployed

The Elizabethan Poor Law (1601)

* Beginning in 1597, the Elizabethan government introduced a series of Acts which tackled the problem of poverty, these Acts were brought together in the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 and made provision for the impotent poor and the unemployed poor as well as punishing vagabonds
* The law had three main features;
* in each parish JPs appointed 4 overseers of the poor, who together with the churchwardens, were responsible for the poor of the parish and they collected a poor rate from all house-holders in the parish and the money was used to support the poor
* **begging was forbidden** **and** **vagrants were whipped** **and** **sent back to the parish they were born in**
* the impotent poor were looked after in almhouses and work was provided to the able-bodied poor and anyone who refused to work was placed in a gaol or a house of correction where they were forced to do hard labour

Art

* Many wonderful works of art were produced during 1580-1603, but %%most of these were painted by foreign artists%%
* The Queen and her courtiers %%paid for portraits of themselves%%, but other than that, showed little interest in painting
* The best painter in this period was %%Nicholas Hilliard%%, a painter who learned his skills in a French court and whose miniature paintings were exquisite works of art

Music

* There were instruments such as %%orpharians%% which were string instruments
* There were %%developments in secular music%% and music was taken to new heights
* %%Madrigals%% became popular and the musician %%John Dowland wrote ‘ayres‘%%, songs accompanied by a lute
* Music was important to many Elizabethans
* %%Thomas Tallis and William Byrd%% composed %%Church music%% for the queen’s new chapel

Literature

* Poets such as %%Philip Sidney and Edmund Spencer%% transformed English poetry
* The %%growth of education, the spread of the printing press%% and the %%emergence of talented writers%% led to developments in English literature
* Dramatists like %%William Shakespeare%% contributed most to the flowering of culture in Elizabethan England
* %%Richard Hackluyt and William Camden%% produced %%travel books and biographies%%

Parish feasts

* %%Celebrated the saint%% of the %%local parish church%%
* Often a %%procession%% followed by %%eating, drinking and dancing%% in the Churchyard
* People %%enjoyed plays%% performed by travelling players or were entertained by %%morris dancers and hobby-horses%%
* People took part in rough sports and enjoyed recreations such as %%bull-baiting and cock-fighting%%
* Brewed %%large quantities of ale%% for the parish feast and they often drank too much

Calendar customs

* %%Christmas%%
* celebrated twelve days of celebration with much %%eating, drinking, singing of carols and dancing%%
* %%‘mumming plays‘%% were performed by %%people wearing masks and disguises%%
* in apple orchards of southern England %%‘wassailers‘ sang around the trees%% and fired guns to scare off evil spirits
* %%Shrove Tuesday%%
* a %%day of feasting%% before Lent began
* time when young men enjoyed games of ‘shrove-tide‘ %%football%%
* %%Whitsun%%
* A %%popular time for parish ales%%
* in the %%north of England%% villagers took part in %%‘rush-bearing‘%%, %%carting rushes to the parish church%% and %%spreading them on the church floor%%
* %%May day%%
* a time of %%merry making and drunkenness%%
* %%maypoles were put up%% in greens or churchyard, and %%‘summer kings and queens‘%% were chosen to rule over the May games
* %%young people gathered greenery%% in the woods and sometimes %%stayed out all night%%
* %%Midsummer’s eve%%
* %%widely celebrated, bonfires were lit%% and %%much ale was drunk%%
* in some villages there was a tradition that %%people sitting in the church porch%% throughout Midsummer’s night would %%see apparitions of people%% who %%were going to die%% over the next twelve months
* %%Harvest home%%
* celebrated at the end of the farming year %%in August%%
* time of much %%feasting, drinking and dancing%%, if the harvest good

Sports

* Contests of %%bare-knuckle boxing%%, %%wrestling%% and ‘cudgelling’ %%(fighting with sticks)%% were common
* %%Football was the most popular Elizabethan sport%% and it was often played between %%large numbers of young men%% from %%different villages or different parts of a town%%, there were no pitches, they %%fought for possession of the ball%% and %%kicked and carried the ball across the countryside%% or through the streets, there were few rules and %%many injuries%%
* %%Bear-, bull and badger-baiting%% were widespread in the late sixteenth century, the animals were %%tied up and attacked by dogs%%, with %%people betting on the outcome of the fight%%
* On Shrove Tuesday %%‘throwing at cocks‘%% was a popular sport which %%involved tying a cockerel to a wooden stake%% with a piece of string and %%throwing sticks or stones at the bird%% to see who could %%win the contest by killing it%%

Alehouse

* %%Most common aspect of popular culture%% for the middling sort and the labouring poor was %%going to the pub%%
* The %%alehouse was at the centre of village life%% and the number of alehouses in towns was increasing after 1580
* The alehouse was where %%people went for beer, good company, and a sing-song with their neighbours%%, but for others, it was a %%place of drunkenness, gambling and prostitution%%

Puritan restrictions in different counties

* %%Lancashire (1587)%% - The Puritan preacher, %%Edward Fleetwood%%, %%persuaded the local gentry to ban all music, dancing and drinking on Sundays%%
* %%Hertfordshire (1589)%% - %%William Dyke%%, a Puritan minister %%tried to ban one of the church ales%% as it included a Robin Hood play and Dyke %%objected to%% Maid Marian (played by a man) coming into church, %%kissing people and making them laugh%%
* %%Oxfordshire (1589)%% - A Puritan and his uncle, who was a high constable, %%issued an order banning all maypoles, church ales, May games and morris dancers%% in the villages around Banbury
* %%Devon (1595)%% - %%Parish ales had already been banned%% on Sundays and now the %%JPs abolished Sunday plays and May games%%, with %%ales only allowed to take place in daylight%% and %%without music or dancing and drink%% had to be provided by a licensed alehouse keeper

Puritan’s concerns

* %%Protecting the Sabbath%%
* they believed %%Sundays were for rest and prayer%% and were keen to %%stop people dancing, drinking and merry-making%% on the Lord’s day
* %%Stopping Catholic practices%%
* they %%objected to some popular customs%% as they were %%associated with the Catholic Church%% which had existed in England before the Protestant reformation
* %%Stopping pagan practices%%
* some popular festivities such as Christmas candles, feasting, mumming, maypoles and Midsummer bonfires could be %%traced back to pagan times%% and the Puritans felt they were %%inappropriate in Christian communities%%
* %%Preventing disorder%%
* sometimes unruly crowds at popular festivities became %%violent and disorderly%%, which the Puritans were concerned about as they were trying to create orderly ‘god-like ‘ communities
* %%Preventing unwanted pregnancies%%
* Puritan ministers complained that %%dancing and drunkenness could lead to the sin of sex outside of marriage%%, the %%May games%% were a particular source of complaint as they were a %%traditional time for love-making%%

Beliefs in magic and witchcraft

* Most people shared a range of %%supernatural beliefs%% which helped them to cope with challenges
* Used %%magic to cure illness, find out the gender of an unborn baby or recover stolen goods%%, used as a coping mechanism
* %%Tolerated%% at the %%start%% of Elizabeth’s reign
* ‘Wise women‘ and ‘cunning folk‘ were %%thought to have special magical power%% which they had inherited
* These people were often used for %%medical reasons%%, using ‘wise women’s’ specialist knowledge of herbs and relying on her use of spells to make remedies more effective
* However, %%witchcraft involved a special kind of magic%% which %%caused harm to people or property%%
* Were accused of getting their %%power from the devil%%
* Was thought witches %%met at sabbats%% where they %%feasted, danced and had sex with the devil%%
* English witches were rarely accused of making a pact with the devil, but a popular belief in Elizabethan England was that they %%used small animals known as ‘imps‘ or ‘familiars‘%% to %%commit evil acts%%, Ursula Kemp was believed to have four familiars, two cats, a toad called Pygin and a lamb called Tyffin

Witchcraft trials

* A law passed %%in 1563 introduced death by hanging for a person found guilty of using witchcraft for killing someone%%, while %%imprisonment%% was the punishment %%for witches who harmed people or property%%
* %%Prosecutions for witchcraft rose dramatically%% in the late Elizabethan period
* there were relatively %%few cases of witchcraft after the 1563 law%% against witchcraft
* the number of witchcraft trials %%increased dramatically in the later years%% of Elizabeth’s reign
* there were %%**109 trials in the 1570s**%%**,** %%**166 in the 1580s**%% **and** %%**128 in the 1590s**%%**, compared to** %%**38 in the 1560s**%%
* these were the %%same decades%% which saw %%increases in poverty and poor harvests%% which created many tensions in many communities
* Prosecutions for witchcraft were %%particularly high in Essex%%
* during Elizabeth’s reign, the highly populated county of %%Hertfordshire had 24 witchcraft trials%%, %%Sussex%%, a large county, %%had only 14%%, while %%Essex had 172%%
* Witchcraft prosecutions usually %%began with a complaint%% made by neighbours
* in a typical case, a %%quarrel%% would occur between neighbours with one of them going away %%muttering and cursing%%
* the other party would then %%suffer misfortune%% and would begin to suspect that they had been bewitched
* they would then %%talk to the neighbours%% who might have similar suspicions and %%would make a complaint to the local magistrate%%

Causes of the trials

* %%Village tensions%%
* the last decades of the 16th century were years of hardship for many, meaning that people were %%less willing to give charity to their poorer neighbours%%
* they were less likely to help a poor elderly woman who came to their house %%asking for a favour%% and if the %%woman cursed%% after her request was rejected, and a %%misfortune subsequently occurred%%, they might %%accuse her of witchcraft%%, transferring their guilt to the accused witch
* An %%attack on women%%
* some historians saw the persecution of witches as an %%extreme form of repression%% of women as the vast majority of those accused were women and they argued this was driven by the %%general misogyny%% of Elizabethan England, although others disputed this view as %%many of the people making accusations were also women%%
* however, the %%magistrate and jurors%% who judged Elizabethan witchcraft cases %%were always men%%
* %%Puritan concerns%%
* as Protestantism became more prevalent in England towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign, %%religious concerns about the devil%% could lay behind the increase in witchcraft prosecutions, especially in counties like Essex where there were %%many Puritan ministers%% trying to %%establish ‘godly communities‘%% and the number of accusations were particularly high

Ursula Kemp

* An %%Elizabethan ‘cunning woman‘%%, a %%healer and midwife from the village of St Osyth in Essex%%, who was often asked to cure ailments and illnesses
* When the young son of her friend, %%Grace Thurlow,%% fell ill, she %%used a spell to cure him%%, however, the women later %%fell out%% after %%Thurlow did not ask Kemp to help when her baby daughter%%, Joan, became ill and when she was just a few months old, %%Joan fell out of her cradle and died from a broken neck%%
* There were rumours %%Kemp had bewitched the child%%, however, %%Thurlow ignored these%% and once again went to Kemp for help when she became lame, she got better but %%refused to pay%% Kemp, saying she couldn’t afford to, the two women argued and %%Kemp threatened%% to get even with Thurlow
* %%In 1582, when Thurlow’s lameness returned%% and her %%son became ill%%, she %%made an official complaint%% against Kemp to the local JP, blaming Kemp for her lameness, her son’s illness and her daughter’s death
* In the trial, %%Kemp’s 8-year-old illegitimate son%%, %%Thomas Rabbet, testified%% about his mother’s activity as a witch
* She was %%found guilty%% of causing death by witchcraft and %%was hanged%%
* Her %%skeleton was discovered in 1921%%, with %%iron rivets nailed into her knees and elbows%% as Elizabethans believed this was a way of stopping witches from rising from the grave

Support for theatres

* Queen Elizabeth
* supported the theatres and it was widely known she %%enjoyed going to the theatre%%
* some of her leading courtiers %%sponsored a theatre company to win her favour%%
* %%complaints%% to the Privy Council about the theatres were %%generally ignored%%
* Visitors to the theatres
* Elizabethans of %%all social groups loved the plays%% written by Shakespeare and other playwrights
* groundlings %%only needed to pay a penny%% and so %%all social classes could afford to go to the theatre%%
* people stayed on after the play and %%enjoyed a ‘jig‘ featuring songs, dancing and jokes%%
* %%crowds were energetic%% and %%eating, drinking, swearing, cheering and flirting were common%%

Opposition to theatres

* The London authorities
* were %%concerned that large theatre crowds created disorder%% in the suburbs of Bankside and Shoreditch
* argued %%theatres drew servants and apprentices away from their work%% and %%attracted rogues, thieves and prostitutes%%
* large crowds of people at theatres %%led to the spread of disease and the plague%%
* in a letter from the %%Lord Mayor of London%% to the Privy Council, from %%1597%%, he argued %%theatres were places for ‘vagrants, master-less men, thieves, horse-stealers, whoremongers, cheats, swindlers and traitors‘ and that they ‘draw apprentices and servants from their work‘%%
* Puritan preachers
* Puritans %%associated plays with paganism%%, something they were against
* theatre was a %%reminder of the miracle plays%% which had %%flourished in Catholic England%%
* preachers were concerned that the theatres and other attractions %%led young people into sinful behaviour%%, particularly sex outside marriage
* in the %%Anatomy of Abuses by the Puritan preacher Philip Stubbes%%, from %%1583%%, he stated people ‘see plays where there are %%suggestive gestures, bawdy speeches, laughing, kissing, wincing and glancing of eyes‘%%

Dr John Dee

* Wanted to ^^change the balance of power between Spain and Portugal^^ and their territories in South America
* Had ^^a vision of the Great Empire^^, ruled by Elizabeth, stretching across North America called the ‘British Empire‘
* Wanted to have ^^an Empire that rivalled that of Spain^^
* ^^Produced a map^^ and ^^books^^ to ^^justify the colonisation of America^^
* Gave the queen and English explorers ^^a vision of an Empire to rival Spain’s^^
* ^^Gave the seafarers the skills they needed^^ to find their way across unknown oceans

Francis Drake

* On ^^26th September 1580^^, Francis Drake set sail on his ship, the ^^*Golden Hind*^^
* He became the first Englishman to ^^sail around the world^^
* ^^Made several expeditions to the Caribbean^^ where he plundered Spanish ships and attacked their settlements

Drake’s voyage (1577-1580)

* ^^**November 1577**^^ **-** ^^**Drake sailed from Plymouth with five ships and around 170 men**^^**, he began his voyage by** ^^**plundering small Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast of West Africa**^^
* ^^**Spring and summer 1578**^^ - Drake’s fleet ^^arrived in Brazil^^ and sailed south, in August they entered the ^^Strait of Magellan^^, at the tip of South America, ^^Drake claimed several islands for the Queen^^, before ^^sailing into the Pacific^^, he was the first English sailor to do so
* ^^**Winter 1578-1579**^^ - Drake travelled north ^^along the coast of Chile and Peru^^, he ^^raided several native settlements^^ and ^^attacked Spanish ships carrying gold and silver^^
* ^^**June 1579**^^ **- Drake** ^^**landed on the coast of California**^^ **and** ^^**claimed the territory**^^ **for Queen Elizabeth calling it** ^^**‘New Albion‘**^^
* ^^**Summer 1579**^^ - Drake ^^feared^^ that if he returned to England using the same route ^^he would be attacked by Spanish ships^^ and so instead he made the decision to sail west across the Pacific, in the ^^Moluccas (Spice Islands) he traded linen cloth for cloves, ginger and pimento^^, he then made the long journey home via the Cape of Good Hope
* ^^September 1580^^ - ^^Drake returned to England^^ with his ship full of ^^stolen treasures^^, most of this was used to pay investors and to boost the Queen’s treasury, but Drake was allowed to keep some for himself
* ^^April 1581^^ - The ^^Queen knighted Drake on board the Golden Hind^^, which ^^angered the King of Spain^^ as he thought of Drake as little more than a ^^pirate^^, although Drake considered himself a good Protestant, a patriotic Englishman and a man who earned his wealth through bravery and skill

Humphrey Gilbert

* Wanted to ^^discover a north-west passage around America^^ which would provide England with ^^a trade route to China^^
* He was also ^^driven by his hatred of Catholic Spain^^, and in ^^1577^^ he presented the Queen with his ^^*Discourse How Her Majesty May Annoy the King of Spain*^^*,* which stated that a colony in America would be ^^a good base^^ from which the ^^English could attack Spanish ships^^
* In ^^1578^^, the ^^Queen granted Gilbert a charter^^ for 6 years, giving him the ^^right to establish a colony in North America^^
* Gilbert’s ^^first attempt in 1579^^ was a ^^disaster^^ and only the ship ^^containing his half-brother, Walter Raleigh, managed to cross the Atlantic^^
* It ^^pillaged several Spanish ships^^ in the Caribbean and ^^returned to England in a sorry state^^

Gilbert’s 1583 expedition

* Gilbert’s fleet of ships ^^departed Plymouth’s port^^ on the ^^11th June 1583^^ and seven weeks later he had his first glimpse of America
* Gilbert’s had ^^arrived in the harbour of St Johns, Newfoundland^^
* ^^Several English, Spanish and Portuguese vessels were already there^^ as the harbour had been ^^used by European fishermen for decades^^
* Gilbert ^^took possession of Newfoundland^^ for Queen Elizabeth by digging a piece of turf and erecting a post ^^with the arms of England engraved in lead^^, to celebrate ^^he invited the fishermen to a feast^^, the ^^Spaniards and Portuguese brought wine, marmalade and biscuits^^, when Gilbert seemed ungrateful they soon ^^returned with salmon, trout and lobster^^
* Gilbert had ^^made England’s first claim to territory^^ in eastern North America but ^^failed to establish a colony^^
* ^^Newfoundland was cold and barren^^, ^^food was scarce^^ and some of ^^Gilbert’s men became ill^^
* He sailed his fleet south, but ^^one of the ships sank and 80 men died^^
* The ^^remaining ships were desperately short of supplies^^ and insisted on returning home
* On the journey home across the Atlantic, the ^^fleet faced violent storms^^ and, after ^^refusing to leave^^ his overloaded ship, ^^*the Squirrel*^^, the ^^ship sank and Gilbert drowned^^ on the ^^9th September 1583^^

Walter Raleigh

* ^^Wanted to establish England’s first colony in Virginia^^
* In ^^1584^^, the ^^Queen gave him a royal charter to explore and colonise North America in return for one-fifth of all the gold or silver that might be found there^^
* In ^^1595^^, he ^^led an expedition to Guiana in search of El Dorado^^ - ‘the city of Gold‘, which was ultimately ^^unsuccessful^^, but in ^^1596, he published his Discovery of the Large, Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana^^, which ^^helped to ensure empire building^^ would continue into the 17th and 18th centuries

The reconnaissance voyage (1584)

* In ^^April 1584^^, Raleigh sent his friends, ^^Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe on two small vessels^^ to ^^explore the coast of North America^^, in ^^early July they reached an Island called Roanoke^^ where they ^^made contact with the local Algonquian people^^
* The voyage convinced Raleigh that ^^Roaknoke would be a good place for an English colony^^
* In order to persuade the Queen to invest in the colony, he asked his friend ^^Richard Hackluyt^^ to ^^write a pamphlet explaining the benefits of colonisation^^, in which Hackluyt argued that ^^colonisation would allow Englishmen to spread the word of God in America^^, ^^would enable the English to obtain many products^^ and ^^would provide a good market for English goods^^, and, above all, a base in America would ^^enable the English to attack the Spanish treasure ships^^ which financed Catholic aggression in Europe
* The propaganda worked and in ^^1585 he began preparations^^ for the colony at Roanoke

The voyage to Roanoke (1585)

* Raleigh wanted to lead the expedition to Virginia, but, as the ^^Queen couldn’t bear to be without him^^ for such a long period, the expedition of 600 sailors, soldiers and colonists was ^^led by Raleigh’s cousin Richard Grenville and the military commander Ralph Lane^^
* As well as the sailors, the ^^scientist Thomas Hariot^^ and the ^^artist John White^^ were on ^^board the ship^^ when it ^^departed from Plymouth on 9th April 1585^^
* The two men ^^produced^^ a remakable ^^record of the landscape, plants, animals and people they encountered^^ in North America
* Five days after setting off, the ^^fleet was scattered by a storm^^ off Portugal so ^^Grenville’s ship, the *Tiger*, sailed on alone^^, ^^collecting supplies in the West Indies^^ and then ^^heading north towards Roanoke^^ where he ^^rejoined other ships from his fleet^^
* The ships ^^got stuck in sand^^ on the North American coastline, east of Roanoke Island, a storm approached and the colonists ^^lost most of their supplies including the seeds they had brought to plant^^, so they ^^would have to rely on the Algonquian people to survive^^

Establishing the colony

* At the end of ^^July 1585^^, ^^Ralph Lane^^ took up his role as the ^^colony’s governor^^ and began the urgent tasks of ^^building a small wooden fort which included houses, a storehouse, workshops and a church^^
* The ^^plan^^ to settle 600 men was quickly ^^abandoned^^ and it was instead decided that ^^107 of the colonists would remain^^ while ^^Grenville returned to England for more supplies^^
* Lane and his men ^^began to explore the territory^^ which the English had named Virginia, but during the ^^Autumn of 1585 lack of food became a troubling issue^^
* ^^Wingina, the Algonquian Chief^^ who ruled over Roanoke and neighbouring territory on the mainland, was ^^wary of the English colonists^^ and knew they would be ^^forced to rely on his people for food during the current winter months^^
* At first, Wingina and his people ^^supplied the colonists with corn^^, but the ^^Algonquian began to run out of food^^ for their families during the winter of 1585-1586
* Lane learned that ^^Wingina was planning to attack the colony^^ and ^^made a pre-emptive strike, in which Wingina was killed, causing the Algonquian people to become increasingly hostile^^
* ^^In June 1586^^, a ^^fleet of ships^^ led by Francis Drake ^^came to rescue them^^
* Although Raleigh’s plan to establish a colony was ultimately unsuccessful, the English adventurers ^^learned a lot about America^^ and ^^in 1588, Thomas Hariot and John White published a detailed account of this ‘new world‘^^ in their ^^*Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia*^^, which contained ^^knowledge that enabled England’s first successful colony^^ to be established at ^^Jamestown, Virginia in 1607^^

Ralph Fitch

* Wanted to ^^establish trading links between England and the Mughal Empire^^
* ^^Sailed to Syria^^ and then made a ^^3,000-mile trip to India^^
* The ^^merchants made little progress^^, but Fitch ^^gained useful knowledge^^

Ralph Fitch’s journey to the East (1583-1591)

* In ^^1583, Ralph Fitch^^, a ^^London merchant^^, set off on a ^^journey to India^^
* He was ^^accompanied by two other merchants^^, ^^John Newberry and John Eldred^^, a ^^jeweller called William Leedes and James Story, a painter^^
* The Turkey Company had commissioned them to find out about the ^^opportunities for trade in India, South East Asia and China^^
* In the ^^1580s^^, the ^^Mughal Empire and China were the greatest civilisations in the world^^, with the adventurers carrying letters of introduction from the Queen, intending to ^^persuade the emporers to begin trading with England^^
* The adventurers ^^left Falmouth on 11th March 1583^^ and sailed to the ^^Eastern Mediterranean^^, they then ^^travelled overland from Aleppo in Syria and on to Baghdad, reaching Basra by May 1583^^
* ^^John Eldred stayed behind in Basra to trade^^, while the others ^^sailed down the Persian Gulf to the Portugese trading station of Hormuz^^, where they were immediately ^^arrested as spies and imprisoned^^
* They were taken across the ^^Indian Ocean to Goa, the main Portuguese colony in India^^
* They were eventually ^^released but James Story decided to stay in Goa, joining the Jesuit College^^
* In ^^April 1584^^, Fitch, Newberry and Leedes ^^began to the Mughal Emporer Akbar, in northern India^^
* In ^^1585^^, they arrived at Akbar’s newly built palace complex of ^^Fatehpur Sikri^^ near Agra, where they ^^saw the great wealth and luxury of Mughal India^^
* ^^William Leedes remained^^ there to be a jeweller for the Emporer, while ^^John Newberry^^ decided to begin his return journey overland to England and was ^^never heard from again^^
* In ^^September 1585^^, Fitch continued his journey, spending the next year travelling through northern India reaching as far as the Himalayas, he then travelled to Hooghly, later sailing across the Bay of Bengal and reaching Burma
* As he sailed down the Malay Peninsula, Fitch collected a lot of ^^valuable information about the sea trade with China and the Moluccas^^
* ^^Early in 1588^^, he ^^visited the Portuguese fort of Malacca^^ but the officials there ^^did not allow him to continue to the South China Sea^^, so Fitch began the long journey home and ^^arrived back in London on 29th April 1591^^
* After returning, he ^^wrote about his explorations^^, with his ^^descriptions of the markets of India and of the gems, spices, cloths, drugs and dyes intriguing London merchants^^

James Lancaster

* In ^^1591^^, he ^^travelled around the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies looking for trading opportunities^^
* Lancaster took the ^^merchant ship Edward Bonaventure and two others^^ on the ^^first English trading voyage to the East Indies^^
* The voyage was a ^^disaster^^, with ^^one of the ships sinking^^, while in the East Indies, the ^^Portuguese prevented Lancaster from trading^^ and he ^^spent much of the time pillaging ships in the Indian Ocean^^, and ^^only 25 men returned in May 1594^^
* Lancaster commanded the East India Company’s first fleet which ^^left in April 1601^^ and ^^established England’s first successful trading factory^^ in the East

The first East India Company voyage (1601-1603)

* On ^^22nd September 1600^^, over 100 of London’s leading merchants met at ^^Founder’s Hall to form the East India Company^^, a company they hoped would transform England’s trade in the East
* On the ^^31st December 1600^^, the Queen ^^gave a charter to the East India Company^^ to ^^develop trade in the East^^
* James Lancaster was chosen to lead one of the ^^4 ships which formed the EIC’s first expedition in 1601^^
* In ^^1602^^, he ^^established England’s first warehouse in the East at Bantam^^ on the ^^island of Java^^, enabling English ships ^^to return from the East laden with spices^^
* Although ^^no overseas empire had been established in her reign^^, the East India Company was the ^^beginning of the Empire^^, with the ^^company opening many factories on the coast of India in the 17th century^^ and it ^^ruling vast parts of India^^ and ^^becoming the biggest trading company in history^^ in the ^^18th century^^