rebellions

what rebellions occurred in her reign

• Hugh O’Neil

• Essex rebellion

when was the Hugh O’Neil rebellion

1598 - 1603

who was Hugh O’Neil

Earl of Tyrone

what were the causes of the Hugh O’Neil rebellion

• religious - catholic opposition

• political - english control, plantation - 1550s

• foreign - spanish support and armadas

who was involved in the Hugh O’Neil rebellion

• hugh o’neil = earl of tyrone

• earl of essex

• lord mountjoy

how big was tyrones army

6,000 men

what happened in 1598

tyrone’s army easily defeated the much smaller english army at the battle of the yellow ford

what was spains involvement

tyrone had built links with spain

they promised to double the men at his disposal

what did elizabeth do

sent a larger force

commanded by earl of essex

but it was a complete failure

why was it a complete failure

the earl of essex failed to follow specific instructions

he didn’t exploit the military advantage he had upon arrival

who was essex replace by

Lord MountJoy

how did the Hugh O’Neil rebellion end

Lord MountJoy defeated Tyrone’s forces by constantly harassing them in year round campaigns

when was the turning point of the Hugh O’Neil rebellion

spanish relief force was defeated in kinsale in 1602

stopping the assistance that Tyrone really needed

consequence of Hugh O’Neil rebellion

led to earl of essex rebellion

how much of a threat was the Hugh O’Neil rebellion

serious in Ireland

made worse by spanish support + essex failure

but, was solved after 5 years by Lord MountJoy’s constant harassments

when was the Essex rebellion

1601

what caused the Essex rebellion

• factionalism - exacerbated by manipulation of patronage

• political - poor management of patronage (favouring old families like Burghley’s and Cecil’s)

Essex and his supporters detested power of families such as Cecil’s so their aim = intend to remove from power and recognise James VI officially as heir to the throne

(unfulfilled aims, although the second did happen in spite of this)

who was involved in the Essex rebellion

• Essex

what was Essex’s background with Elizabeth

he was the leader of the group of courtiers (they favoured stepping up military action against spain)

elizabeth disagreed with this so he didn’t gain a seat on the privy council

once she had to hit him and forcibly restrain him from drawing his sword

what did elizabeth do in 1599

gave him a chance to show his talents and to reward his supporters by appointing him to command her army in Ireland

he threw away the opportunity and fell from royal favour, was banished from court

he lost valuable monopolies and a possible government position in the court of wards

what happened in february 1601

Essex attempted to seize strategic places in London by force of arms

including

palace at Whitehall and the tower

why did the rebellion fail

few people actively joined in

essex was very quickly arrested and executed for treason

how was the Essex rebellion a threat

• happened in the capital

• close to the centre of power

• a number of noblemen joined him

• planned to remove elizabeth

how was the Essex rebellion not a threat

• was a miserable failure

• few actively joined

• essex was quickly arrested and executed for treason

• it was quickly put down and there we no wins from rebels

what shows recognition of the threat from Essex rebellion

elizabeth executed essex but chose not to punish the others

so must have recognised the danger of provoking a further rebellion

it is a surprise there were rebellions in her rule

no

1590s = dark years

surprise there were only 2 and they weren’t major

in a very bad decade

what happened in 1594-97 (dark years)

there were four successive serious crop failures

how much did agricultural prices rise by in the 1590s (dark years)

agricultural prices rose by 1/3 in the decade

what happened in 1592 - 93 (dark years)

plague spread killing thousands

continued to have some effect for a decade afterwards

what was noticed in parish registers in the 1590s (dark years)

parish registers showed many burials

but few marriages and baptisms

what happened in 1598 +1601 (dark years)

poor laws passed

what happened in 1595, 1596-97 (dark years)

1595 - food riots in London, South-East and West

1596-97 - food riots in East Anglia leading to fear of another Kett’s rebellion

food riots show unhappiness

beyond the pale

• ireland had technically been under england’s control since henry viii in 1541

• but the influence never stretched beyond the Pale

• they had been using a policy of plantation since edward’s reign

foreign + beyond the pale

• yorkists and spanish take advantage of ireland

• the irish don’t like english

• they are catholic

• previously rebelled - silk and thomas?