GCSE AQA HISTORY ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND: PART 1

elizabeth early life

became queen at age 25, 1558 very bright and educated could speak 5 languages, protestant, close with katherine parr, imprisoned when mary was queen

power in elizabethan england: parliament

made up of house of lords: lords, bishops, other members of nobility

house of commons: common people but still wealthy

much less powerful than modern gov but responsible for passing laws and had influence over tax. queen decided when to call parliament whether she should listen to them or not

power in elizabethan england: privy council

took responsibility for day to day running of the country, elizabeths main advisors.

dealt with almost any issue e.g. military and foreign affairs, religion and queens security.

If privy council agreed on an issue it would be hard for the queen to refuse it, but they rarely agreed.

Led by secretary of state

power in elizabethan england: lord lieutenants

appointed by queen to take administrative responsibility for particular areas of the country.

solving disputes, raising militia (armies) to fight for the queen

this position could lead to great power and influence

power in elizabethan england: justices of peace

each country had several JPs to ensure order was kept

Selected from the local gentry, main role was to ensure laws passed by parliament were enforced

A single JP had power to send someone to prison but more than one was required to execute someone

Swore to treat everyone equally, no matter what status they have

What was the royal court?

Made up of gov officials, ladies in waiting, servants and advisors. Consisted of around 1000 ppl from nobles to servants. Around 12 men had the real power

What is patronage

Helped court members better their loyalty to the queen by her giving them titles, power or other rewards to ensure their support. ( similar to a bribe basically)

key figures : William Cecil

1520 -98

Served as a secretary of state and MP, liz's most trusted advisor.

Encourage liz to take control of catholic ireland and fight other catholics abroad

played a key role in developing poor laws and new religious policy

key figures: Francis Walsingham

1532-90

secretary of state and one of queens closest advisors from 1573 till death

Known as Liz's spymaster

Helped establish england as a powerful force at sea, took lead when dealing with spain, france and netherlands

played a role in trial and execution of mary queen of scots

problems liz faced: succession (heir)

Her heir was mary queen of scots who was a scottish, catholic queen, once married to the french king, her becoming queen had to be avoided. Parliament were keen to have liz married and have a son ideally.

problems liz faced: Religion

henry had broken from the catholic church edward continued with protestantism but mary tried to undo their work and re establish catholicisim, allowed catholics to follow their faith privately but they were still unhappy, saw her as illegitimate bcs her mother was henrys second marriage. Puratanism was also growing popular, seen as a threat

liz's problems: foreign policy

Had to deal w countries who wanted influence over england e.g. france and spain who were catholic and had support from the pope. Netherlands also.

liz's problems: Ireland

Liz considered herself queen of ireland but irish ppl disagreed, there was a result in northern ireland 1559, spent thousands trying to limit irish rebellion but nothing seemed to work

liz's problems: Taxation

gov needed money and could get this through taxes. unfortunately a lot of ppl were poor and taxes would be very unpopular so raising taxes would be dangerous for a new monarch.

arguments for liz's marriage:

could create an alliance with a foreign country

liz could produce an heir to succeed the tudor line

marriage and children would prevent mary queen of scots from rulling england after liz's death

arguments against liz's marriage

marrying someone foreign could lead to england falling under their rule

marrying an englishman could create probs over who had authority

liz could keep her independence if she was unmarried

giving birth was risky at this time, could lead to death

bloody mary's marriage to philip of spain was seen as a disaster and failed to produce an heir

liz's possible suitors: robert dudley (earl of leceister)

queens childhood friend, one of her favs throughout her reign, however ppl suspected he was responsible for his wifes death. He was a key figure in the royal court, privy councillor, held great power and influence in gov.

liz's possible suitors: king philip II of spain

one of the most powerful men in the world, had control over south america and its resources. However he was catholic which created problems.

liz's possible suitors: francis, duke of anjou and alenon

french kings brother, could lead to influence in france, heir to the french throne. by the time this marriage was considered liz was 46 and if she died having kids, england could fall under french control, he was also catholic so many were against this one.

parliaments thoughts on liz not marrying

liz almost died of smallpox in 1562 and the lack of an heir was becoming concerning. by 1556 parl were openly discussing potential matches. liz was furious and banned parliament from ever speaking on it again. one politician, peter wentworth ignored her orders and he was arrested and placed in the tower of london.

The Northern Rebellion 1569

liz stopped mary marrying the duke of norfolk (liz's 2nd cousin), he then left royal court. then a group of northern lords let by Westmorland and Northumberland began a rebellion. they took control of durham cathedral and celebrated an illegal catholic mass, then marched south w 4600 men, eventually earl of sussex raised an army and rebels disbanded. Leaders of rebellion fled to scotland but northumberland was captured and executed.

The Ridolfi Plot 1571

Norfolk was under house arrest, but eventually released and became involved in another plot. Catholic banker from florence called ridolfi felt foreign help was needed. 1570 pope said not to obey liz, so ridolfi planned for the netherlands to invade england, liz would be murdered and replaced by mary queen of scots. Liz's spy network decoded some messages on gold coins, discovered at norfolks house. Norfolk confessed and was executed in 1572

Earl of Essex (Robert Devereux) key info and initial relationship with the queen

Queen took interest in him, one of elizabeth's favourites, made him a privy councillor in 1595. Gave him the sweet wine monopoly, anybody who wanted to bring in sweet wine from abroad would pay him tax, making him a lot of money and power (patronage). Rivals with Robert Cecil. had some military success against the spanish in 1596

things leading to the essex rebellion, initial disagreements with the queen

in 1598 he got in an argument with liz during a privy council meeting, he turned his back on her and liz hit him on his head and he almost drew his sword. he was put under house arrest but refused to admit he was wrong.

Essex in Ireland

in 1599 liz made him lord lieutenant of ireland, he was reluctant to go at first fearing cecil would become more powerful in his absence but he went.

he failed to crush the irish rebellions, instead he made a truce with them.

when he returned he rushed into her private chambers and caught her without her wig. angry,

liz didnt renew his sweet wine monopoly, leaving him with debt and his influence all gone.

angry, essex was determined to remove robert cecil from power, in 1601 he began to gather supporters.

The essex rebellion, what happened and the consequences

1. essex took four privy councillors hostage and with 200 followers marched into london

2. robert cecil responded quickly, labelled essex a traitor and many rebels abandoned the march

3. essex returned to his house where he found the hostages had been released by those who abandoned him

4. essex and his remaining supporters were arrested

essex was executed on 25 february 1601, two weeks after the rebellion. in exchange for information, liz allowed him to be executed in private. other rebels were executed, but were most fined