CHAPTER 17: ELIZABETH I- CHARACTER AND AIMS

What were the differences between Mary I's ascension to the throne and Elizabeth I's ascension to the throne?

- Elizabeth was significantly younger than Mary had been (25 years old).

- Elizabeth was considerably better educated, had a much shrewder grasp of political processes in their widest sense.

- For the most part, she had a shrewder judge of character.

- She had also learned much from her personal and political experiences, inclusing her brief and tempestuous relationship with Thomas Seymour, and what may have been her treasonable implication in Wyatt's Rebellion.

-No interest in government, but took an informed interest in decision making processes, and was determined to preserve the perogative powers of the Crown (making the most important decisions).

What were Elizabeth's short term aims?

- To consolidate her position.

- To settle religious issues.

- To persue a peaceful settlement with the French.

What was the immediate nature of the succession?

- Mary's councillors were aware of the fact that Elizabeth did not share their religious views; many of them guessed that their political careers were over.

- However, they made no attempt to interfere with the lawful sucession as defined by Henry VIII.

- Mary had recognised Elizabeth as her successor, and Philip of Spain had signified his recongnition of Elizabeth's succession when he sent his envoy, the Count of Feria, to see Elizabeth a month before Mary's death.

What were the difficulties of Elizabeth's succession?

- England had suffered a series of bad harvests, thus food was scarce and expensive.

- The country had suffered grievously from a flu epidemic which had caused the highest mortality rate since the Black Death.

- The political and religious situations were delicate; England had fought a disastrous war against France which had resulted in the loss of Calais.

- Question of the Queen's marriage had become subject to endless speculation.

- It was evident that the Catholic faith, as re-established by Mary, would be changed.

What were the key features of Elizabeth's consolidation of power?

- Path to power was eased by the acceptance of her succession by Mary’s key councillors. On the morning of 17th November Nicholas Heath, Mary’s Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of York, announced Mary’s death to Parliament and proclaimed Elizabeth’s succession. Legally he had no right to do so; Mary’s death should, in law, bring about the dissolution of Parliament. Politically, this was an important move as it showed that the political elite supported Elizabeth, a further 9 of Mary's councillors assured her of their loyalty.

- William Cecil was appointed principal secretary - a political partnership, Elizabeth also made key household appointments. Didn’t announce any further appointments, keeping Mary's councillors guessing about her intentions and spectulating about them retaining royal favour.

- Elizabeth showed herself to be familiar with customs associated with monarchs who had newly acceded to the throne by taking herself to the Tower, from which she emerged on several occasions to show her new subjects.

- Elizabeth also proceeded quickly to her coronation.

- Gaining some measure of international confirmation as the Spanish ambassador, the Count of Feria had already visited Elizabeth before Mary’s death and tried to broker a marriage alliance between her and Philip II after the succession.

When did Mary I die?

17th November 1558.

When was Elizabeth's coronation?

15th January 1559.

What were the priorities of the new Elizabethan religious regime?

- To decide on the form of religion the country would experience.

- There were two key aspects to this:

1. The legal status of the Church.

2. The liturgical books to be used in church services.

What was the legal status of the Church?

- Had not been altered with the death of Mary I.

- Until the law could be changed, the English Church remained a part of the Catholic Church of Rome.

- There was never any doubt that this relationship would be severed and that the CofE would be reinstated as a state church with the monarch as its head.

- Would it be:

- Essentially an 'Anglo-Catholic' Church, whose practices remained essentially Catholic even though it had rejected papal supremacy.

- An apparently moderate Protestant Church similar to that implied by the Act of Uniformity of 1549.

- A more radically evangelical Church as implied by the Act of Uniformity of 1552.

What was the Elizabethan settlement of 1559?

- Created a middle way between Catholicism and Protestantism.

- It was established through two Acts of Parliament (the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity), the issue of a set of royal injunctions to enforce the Acts and to meet liturgical needs.

- Thirty-nine articles of Religion were introduced in 1563.

What was the Act of Supremacy 1559?

- Restored in law the royal supremacy in the Church, which had been established under H8 and removed by Mary.

- The papal supremacy, restored under Mary, was rejected.

- The Reformation legislation of H8's reign was restored.

- The heresy law revived under Mary was repealed.

- The powers of royal visitation were revived.

- Described the queen as 'supreme governor' rather than 'supreme head' of the CofE.

- An oath of supremacy was to be taken by clergymen and church officials; there were penalties for refusing to do so (most of the Marian bishops felt unable to take the oath so were deprived of their posts).

- Therefore, restored the legal position of the Crown in relation to the Church, giving legislative authority for the Crown to act in matters relating to the Church.

What were the powers of royal visitation?

- Allowed the Crown to appoint commissioners to 'visit, reform, order, commend and amend all such errors, heresies, and abuses'.

- This gave huge amounts of potential power to commissioners, not least because it did not define the 'heresies' against which they might take action.

How might Elizabeth being referred to as 'supreme governor' be interpreted?

- A conscession to Catholic opinion.

- A reflection of contemporary misogynistic attitudes towards women derived from the teachings of St. Paul.

- A reflection of the assumption that only God could be head of the Church.

What was the Act of Uniformity 1559?

- Ensured that the appearance and services were protestant.

- Everything was uniform.

- Everyone had to attend Church or risk facing a 1 shilling fine.

- Clothing rules and an English book of Common prayer were introduced.

- Specified the use of a single Book of Common Prayer, which was a modified version of the one introduced by Cranmer in 1552.

- Variations in Eucharistic belief were possible in that both the 1549 wording and the 1552 wording were permitted.

- The 'Black Rubric' which had been included in the 1552 prayer book to explain away the practice of kneeling at the administration of the Eucharist, was omitted.

What were the royal injunctions, 1559?

- Set of instructions about the conduct of church services and government, issued in E1s name as supreme governor.

- First injunction:

- Emphasised 'the supression of superstition' (Catholic practices).

- Emphasised that the Eucharist be administered at a simple communion table rather than an altar (clear signal of reform).

- Pilgrimage and candles were described as 'works devised by man's fantasies'.

- Meant an an attack on Catholic practices (like the 1547 ones).

- Parush churches required to purchasd and English Bible (reasserting 1538 injunctions) and a copy of Erasmus' 'Paraphrases' (previously required in 1547).

- Visitors nominated by Cecil to enforce the injunctions were strongly Protestant.

How did the injunctions reflect some of Elizabeth's personal idiosyncrasies?

Her dissaproval for clerical marriage was signalled by the fact that prospective wives of clergy had to produce a certificate signed by two justices of the peace signifying their fitness for such a role.

What was the significance of the settlement?

- Much debate among historians about the settlement.

- The dominant interpretation was put forward by John Neale.

What is Neale's argument about the settlement?

- He argued that the queen faced pressure from radical clergymen, as well as from their allies in the HoC, the so-called Puritan Choir.

- The queen had to back down and accept a much more Protestant prayer book and settlement than she had really wanted.

What is Harguard's argument about the settlement?

- Argued that Elizabeth saw the settlement as final, rather than as a precursor to further reform.

- Many of the subsequent religious controversies of Elizabeth's reign can therefore be easily explicable in this light.

What is Hudson's argument about the settlement?

Argued that Elizabeth and her ministers always intended that the settlement should be firmly Protestant and that there was never any serious intention to restore the first Edwardian prayer book, but that appearances on the contrary had to be maintained, mainly to keep support in a conservative HoL.

What is Jones' argument about the settlement?

- Argued that Elizabeth and her ministers wanted a complete religious settlement from the start.

- The political opposition they faced came not form the Puritan Choir but the Catholic Bishops and conservative peers in the HoL.

- Though the bishops and conservatives grudgingly accepted the restoration of royal supremacy, they provided much more opposition to the uniformity bill, which was only passed in the Lords by three votes.

What was the Treaty of Câteau-Cambrésis, 1559?

- England was in conflict with France.

- The war had gone very badly for England, especially with the loss of Calais which had severely weakened the Crown's finances.

- Elizabeth wanted to extricate England from this war and, fortunately, the financial state of both France and Spain meant that neither Philip II nor Henry II of France and Spain could continue fighting.

- A peace treaty was concluded at Câteau-Cambrésis in April 1559, in which Egland and France reached over Calais.

- France would retain Calais for eight years, after which time Calais would be returned to English control provided England had kept the peace in the meantime.

- If France failed to return Calais, they agreed to pay 500,000 crowns (£125,000) to England.

What was the issue with Francis II's ascension in June 1559?

- Henry II of France was succeeded by his son Francis II in June 1559, who was married to Mary, Queen Scots.

- Francis' ascension brought the strongly Catholic Guise faction to power in France, who sought to use Scotland as an instrument of French policy.

- French troops were sent to the garrison of major Scottish fortresses, much to the alarm of John Knox, the radical Calvinist who was the leader of the Scottish Reformation, and his political allies, the Lords of the Congregation, who were seeking power in Edinburgh.

- This led to conflict, with the Lords of the Congregation requesting assistance from their fellow Protestants south of the border.

What was Elizabeth's view on intervention in Scotland?

- Elizabeth was reluctant to intervene in Scotland.

- Loathed Knox, who had written against the 'monstrous regiment of women'.

What was Cecil's view on intervention in Scotland?

- Cecil strongly supported intervention, as he sympathised with the religious predicament of Scottish Protestants and knew that England would be more secure without a Frenchman in the north.

- However, he also sought the removal of MQS, which would weaken her influence as a potential Catholic claimant to the throne, and wanted to incorporate Scotland within a wider 'imperial' British State, which he considered necessary to the survival of Protestant England.

- This was a minority position on the Council, which was even opposed by his normal ally and brother-in-law Sir Nicholas Bacon.

How did Cecil persuade Elizabeth to intervene in Scotland?

- Played on her insecurity.

- He pointed to the action of Francis and MQS in using the English royal coat of arms on their own heraldic device.

- He suggested his own resignation if E1 failed to support him.

- Therefore, the process of intervention in Scotland is a clear illustration of the way in which decision making in FP could be influenced by both religious considerations and a ket individual.

What was the intervention in Scotland?

- Initially limited to money and armaments, but towards end of December 1559 the navy was sent to the Firth of Fourth to stop French enforcements from landing.

- The Lords of the Congregation were offered conditional support at the Treaty of Berwick in Feb 1560, and an army was sent north in March.

- Army blockaded Leith just outside of Edinburgh where most of the French forces were stationed, from land and sea.

- The siege failed, but other circumstances forced a French withdrawal; the French fleet was severely damanged by storm, and the regent Mary of Guise died.

- Cecil was able to secure favourable terms in the Treaty of Edinburgh in July.

What was the impact of the death of Francis II?

- The Lords of the Congregation were accepted as provisional councillar government, and the Guises fell from power.

- MQS' influence on French FP came to an end and she had to return to Scotland, where she was forced to accept the politcal and religious power of her enemies.

- Her influence had been reduced, but E1 had been achieved mostly through this good fortune and she would proceed more cautiously in the future.

What was the situation in France?

- Conflict broke out between Catholics and Protestants in France in March 1562.

- Robert Dudley, later Earl of Leicester, encouraged Elizabeth to put pressure on the French Crown when it was in a relatively weak state so as to ensure the return of Calais.

- Elizabeth promised the Huguenot leader (Condé) 6000 men and a load of £30,000, with a control port of Le Havre as security.

What were the issues with intervention in France?

- The Huguenot army was defeated and Condé was captured; on the Catholic side the Duke of Guise was assassinated.

- With both sides leaderless, the French factions agreed to accept peace terms and united to drive the English out of Le Havre.

- The English were therefore forced to seak an unfavourable peace settlement at the subsequent Treaty of Troyes in 1564.

What was the impact of the intervention in France?

- E1 lost indemnity she received at Câteau-Cambrésis, and lost Calais permanently.

- This might have been a long term advantage (very expensive and tempting to use as a starting point for invasion), it was a significant blow to E1's prestige.

- Thereafter, she became much more cautious about supporting Protestant continent (possibly too cautious, e.g. Netherlands).