Edexcel GCSE History - Early Elizabethan England KT2

What was the Revolt of the Northern Earls

- First serious act of rebellion from English Catholics (November 1569)

- Led by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland.

- Aimed to replace Elizabeth with Mary, QoS and restore Catholicism.

Revolt of the Northern Earls: Events

- November 9-15: Earls ordered their tenants to march south to end Elizabeth's rule and restore the Catholic religion. Initially, large numbers of men joined the earls and the men stormed into Durham Cathedral and celebrated Catholic mass in the traditional Latin.

- Nov 22-30 The rebels marched south to rescue Mary, QoS but she had been moved to a more southern prison near Coventry.

- Elizabeth's gov also kept control of all major towns and the rebels fled when it became clear that no foreign support was going to arrive... and that a royal army of 10,000 men was blocking their path.

What caused the revolt?

- Religion: the Earls were Catholic and claimed they wanted to restore the Catholic faith. At the start of the revolt they stormed into Durham Cathedral and held a Catholic service.

- Politics: both Westmorland and Northumberland had lost political power as Elizabeth had weakened their power in the North e.g. Northumberland had lost an important position defending the border against Scotland... putting Mary on the throne would have likely restored the mens' political power.

- Personal grievances: Elizabeth had taken land from the nobles e.g. Northumberland had lost copper mines and lots of money - other earls in the North were facing financial hardship.

Revolt of the Northern Earls: Hypothesis

Hypothesis: Religion was used as a means of garnering support from other earls, but the actual revolt was triggered by personal and political grievances. Revolt predated excommunication so the rebels were not called to arms by the Pope.

Was the revolt a significant threat?

- It had no effective leadership: Northumberland and Westmorland simply panicked and fled upon the arrival of a royal army

- It had no clear aims: did the rebels want to overthrow Elizabeth and replace her with Mary or just free Mary from prison?

- It had limited support from other English Catholics as most support came from tenants of the two Earls.

- It had no foreign support from the French, Spanish or the Pope

- Elizabeth's government dealt with the problem swiftly and efficiently - she raised an army, executed hundreds of rebels and prevented rebels from capturing important towns.

- However, the revolt was a turning point in the treatment of English Catholics - prompted harsher treason laws and the papal bull excommunicating Elizabeth.

Ridolfi Plot: Aims and Events

- 1571 plot led by Italian banker Roberto Ridolfi and the Duke of Norfolk

- Mary, QoS used Ridolfi to carry messages to the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands asking the Pope and Phillip II to organise an invasion of England.

- Aims were to overthrow Elizabeth, replace her with Mary and restore the Catholic religion

- Plot failed because Philip refused to invade England until Elizabeth was overthrown and Elizabeth's government unravelled the plot before it ever reached the public arena.

Ridolfi Plot: Consequences

- Duke of Norfolk was beheaded in June 1572

- Elizabeth expelled the Spanish ambassador (not serious action)

- Gave Protestant MPs an excuse to put pressure on Elizabeth to be harsher to Catholics

- Elizabeth passed an Act saying anyone who claimed she was not rightful Queen was a traitor.

- Increased fears of further Catholic attack in England.

Throckmorton Plot: Aims and Events

- 1583 plot led by Francis Throckmorton who was the carrier of letters for Mary, QoS and the French and Spanish ambassadors

- Throckmorton confessed under torture that there had been a plan for a popular uprising in the North of England, coinciding with an invasion from the French Duke of Guise and supported by Philip II. However, plot failed because money promised by Philip II had not arrived and again, E's government unravelled details of the plot using her spy network.

- Aims: free Mary, restore Catholicism and overthrow Elizabeth.

Throckmorton Plot: Consequences

- Bond of Association (1584) was passed pledging that Mary was to be executed if Elizabeth's life was threatened.

- Throckmorton was executed at Tyburn

- Increased suspicion that English Catholics were simply waiting for a signal from the Pope and military support to rebel against Elizabeth.

- Councillors focused on finding concrete evidence to incriminate Mary, QoS.

Babington Plot: Aims and Events

- 1586 plot led by Anthony Babington, a 25 y/o English Catholic

- Carried letters from Mary QoS and had been encouraged by his friends to taken part in serious plotting against the Queen.

- Plotters aimed, and put in writing, their intention to kill Elizabeth and make Mary queen.

- Mary responded to the plotters' letters, smuggling her responses in beer barrels and approving plans for the assassination of Elizabeth... these letters were intercepted by Francis Walsingham and sealed her fate.

Babington Plot: Consequences

- Babington and other conspirators were condemned to death.

- Mary, Queen of Scots was moved to Fotheringay Castle in September 1586 and then put on trial in October.

- She was found guilty and then executed in February 1587.

How were the plotters caught?

- Francis Walsingham was Secretary of State from 1573, but is more commonly known as 'spy master'.

Methods included...

- Intercepting coded letters and messages e.g. used a code breaker to decipher Babington plot code.

- Employed a network of spies and agents e.g. double agents who would take part in plots and then send information back to Walsingham (Ridolfi?)

- Acts of Parliament e.g. Walsingham increased penalties against Catholics throughout the 1570s. The 1584 Bond of Association pledged that in the event of Elizabeth's life being threatened, Mary would be executed.

- Capturing priests and recusants e.g. Walsingham's spies were very effective at capturing Jesuits who arrived on the pope's orders from 1574.

Why was Mary executed?

- She was a Catholic and attracted support of some Catholics who were opposed to Elizabeth's religious settlement e.g. seen under Revolt of the Northern Earls

- She was Elizabeth's cousin and so had a strong claim to the English throne e.g. granddaughter of Henry VII and heir

- The plots increased the sense of danger to Elizabeth e.g. following excommunication, councillors thought English Catholics were simply waiting on support from Spain in order to rebel, with these plots focusing on Mary

- There was evidence that Mary knew about, and was involved in plots against Elizabeth

- Elizabeth was under pressure from her councillors and Parliament to agree to Mary's execution e.g. Bond of Association

Why did war break out in 1585?

Four key reasons...

- Religious Rivalry (long term, underlying cause)

- Political Rivalry (long term, underlying cause)

- Trade and Commercial Rivalry (short term cause which significantly worsened relations)

- English direct involvement in the Netherlands (trigger cause for war)

Why did England and Spain go to war: Religious Rivalry

- Elizabeth set up the Protestant Church in 1559, and, from the 1570s began to increase penalties against Catholics

- When Jesuit priests began arriving in England, Elizabeth's harsh treatment of them increased Protestant-Catholic tensions.

- However, Philip took no action post religious settlement nor following excommunication... he had suffered religious differences for over 25 years so it does not explain why war broke out in 1585.

Why did England and Spain go to war: Political Rivalry

- Philip did not want any other country to challenge Spanish power, but political rivalry does not seem to have been a major reason for war.

- Philip was anxious about the power of France and did not like the idea of a Scottish-English-French empire, so was reluctant to support Mary's claim to the throne, despite differences in religion.

- Explains reluctance to help with plots

- Political rivalry explains underlying tensions, but does not explain war.

Why did England and Spain go to war: Trade and commercial rivalry

- The collapse of England's main market in 1550s, the cloth trade at Antwerp, led to desire to set up new markets overseas

- Elizabethan explorers set up markets in Russia and India, but New World (owned by Spain) was more lucrative...

- Trading with colonists in the New World required a licence from Spain, which they refused to give.

- Any trading with colonists from the New World or attacked Spanish ships amounted to piracy and Elizabeth knew about, and promoted this activity because the financial rewards were so great.

- This led to a decline in relations, but did not trigger war as whilst Philip made formal complaints regarding English piracy, the chronology does not explain war.

Why did England and Spain go to war: Direct Involvement in the Netherlands

- The English Channel was vitally important to both Elizabeth and Phillip, for trade, security and, in Phillip's case, access to his territories in the Netherlands.

- In 1572, Protestants in the Netherlands rebelled against Spanish rule. The Dutch rebels asked their fellow-Protestant Elizabeth for help when Phillip II sent a huge Spanish army against them. Elizabeth sent money and weapons secretly to the rebels and allowed them and their ships to shelter in English powers.

However, over time, the problems grew. In 1578, a larger Spanish army arrived in the Netherlands and the English government worried about its presence just across the Channel.

- In 1584, the leader of the Dutch rebels, William of Orange, was assassinated. If she did not help the Dutch rebels now, they would be defeated, leaving a Spanish army in a good position to threaten England.

- This was when, in the Treaty of Nonsuch, Elizabeth finally agreed to direct involvement in the Netherlands and sent an army led by the Earl of Leicester.

What was the Treaty of Nonsuch?

August 1585 treaty promising protection of the Netherlands

- Elizabeth agreed to send an army of 7,000 men to help the rebels

- England would pay for the costs of this

- Netherlands would allow Elizabeth to use Dutch cities Brill and Flushing as bases for English soldiers.

How did Elizabeth prepare for the Armada?

- Elizabeth spent the years 1585-1588 strengthening England's defences e.g. fortifying coastal defences, providing soldiers along the coast and erecting warning beacons.

- Elizabeth also converted many trading ships to war ships

How did Drake help Elizabeth prepare for war?

- Aware of the financial implications of war, Elizabeth put Francis Drake in charge of a lucrative expedition to attack the West Indies... he captured two wealthy towns and returned with treasure worth £30,000.

What was the "Singeing of the King beard"

- When news reached Elizabeth of a likely attack, Francis Drake convinced Elizabeth to attack Cadiz and weaken Spain's preparation for war...

- Known as the Singeing of the King's beard (April 1587) where Drake sailed into Cadiz harbour and destroyed many ships and supplies.

- Delayed Armada because he destroyed many ships and supplies, before diverting Spanish warships in pursuit of Drake.

What was Philip's plan for the Armada?

- Sail through the English Channel to Calais

- Meet up with the Duke of Parma (Dutch commander) who will march with his troops of 20,000 men in order to meet the Armada at Calais.

- Ferry Parma's army across the channel in barges, protected by big ships of the Armada

- Land at Kent and march on London

- English Catholics rise up against Elizabeth

- Elizabeth surrenders and the Catholic religion will be restored.

Why did the Spanish Armada fail? Hypothesis

- There were too many weaknesses in the Spanish Plan and these were exploited by superior English tactics and luck in the form of poor weather.

Spanish Armada Failure: Tactics

- 21st July 1588, 130 Spanish ships carrying 17,000 men sailed up the English channel, aiming for Calais and hoping to meet up with the Duke of Parma.

- English fleet left harbour in Plymouth and followed Armada up the channel for 8 days.

- Spanish successfully dropped anchor in Calais on August 6th.

- English commander Lord Howard decided to go on the offensive during the night and ordered 8 unmanned English ships to be filled with inflammable materials.

- These ships were set on fire and winds carried them towards Spanish ships in the harbour. This caused panic amongst the Spanish who putted their anchors, scattering and losing their tight formation.

- Armada was blown towards the coast of the Netherlands and they were no longer able to link up with Parma.

Spanish Armada Failure: Plan

- Spanish plan required spot on communication with Parma's army, however this was not the case and the two armies failed to link up.

- Failure to secure port at Calais left Armada exposed and allowed Howard's fire ship success

- Because timing was not spot on, English tactics during Battle of Gravelines were far more effective against a vastly reduced fleet.

Spanish Armada Failure: Leadership

- Elizabeth herself cemented reputation as Gloriana as she picked right men for the job: Lord Howard of Effingham, Francis Drake etc.

- In comparison, Duke of Medina Sidonia suffered from sea sickness... he did not have a naval bacground and asked to be excused from the position as he suffered from sea sickness - additionally he ordered his fleet to anchor in Calais were they proved an easy target for fireships.

Spanish Armada Failure: Wind and Weather

- Elizabeth claimed a Protestant wind had helped to defeat the Armada

- Most of the impact of wind and weather actually followed the Spanish defeat at Gravelines, whereby the Spanish were forced to sail around the coast of Scotland and Ireland but over 40 Spanish ship were wrecked and thousands of soldiers either drowned or were killed by local inhabitants.

- 80/130 made it home to Spain

- Weather played a role at three crucial moments: blew fireships towards Calais, forced Spanish out to sea and then wrecked their boats in Scotland and Ireland.