Elizabethans gcse

Problems Elizabeth faced when she became Queen

-mother was a traitor: seen as illegitimate
-she was protestant: religious turmoil- reluctance to change again
-her gender: mant believed men should rule

Key features of: Function of government & power

-Advice : point of contact between E & people
-Legislation or new laws
-Taxation - had to ask Parliament to raise tax
HOWEVER: only temporary & occasional
-wasn't free to decide topics it debated
-E believed in divine right & royal prerogative so could decide matters of state w/p them

Key features of: Function of privy council & power

responsible of day to day running of country ie military, foreign affairs, religion & Queen's safety
Made up of E & main advisors
POWER: if council agreed to an issue, hard for E to refuse it
-they managed administration of government

Key features of: Function of lord lieutenants & power

-appointed by E to take administrative responsibility of an area: settled disputes, collect taxes & raise militia
POWER: held important roles in court
HOWEVER: no real power over Queen or say in court dealings

Key features of: Function of JPs & power

-Each county had several , ensured order kept & laws passed enforced
POWER: could send people to prison & collectively give death sentence
HOWEVER: little influence in court and ruling of country

Aims of Elizabeth's rule

-peace
-prosperity
-stability

Problems Elizabeth faced in first 10 years of reign

-succession: needed an heir to continue tudor line
-marriage: would lose power & control of country but was expected thing for females
-religion: needed to decide & enforce to stop disputes & turmoil
-Mary QofS: claimed to be rightful heir- had support
-economy: Eng in debt & verge of bankruptcy
-foreign Policy: France&Spain powerful neighbours, could invade or go to war
-taxation: inherited debts but raising taxes would make her unpopular

What did Parliament challenge ELizabeth on?

'personal affairs' such as marriage, succession, religion, sometimes tried to force E to change her mind but refusing taxations but E never gave into this pressure & remained in firm control for the majority of her reign

E's favourites in court

-Sir William Cecil
-Sir Francis Walshingham
-Robert Dudley
-Sir Christopher Hatton

How did E control her privy councillors?

-sometimes showed affection & gave rewards
-normally appointed men to work with those hostile to each other; 'divide & rule' - forced rival factions to work together , compete for affection & give contrasting advice , allowing her male measured decisions

Why marriage was important & pros

IMPORTANT: produce and heir - succession
-avoid civil wars
-form better political alliances
-have a man ruling country
-expected role of women
PROS: foreign marriage would make a powerful alliance
-marriage & children would prevent MQofS from ruling
-providing an heir

Cons of marriage

-limit E's personal freedom
-would have to share power w husband
-most suitors were Catholic: unpopular choice w the people
-foreign marriage would make enemies of rejected ones
-English marriage would unbalance power in different groups at court & cause problems

E's suitors

-King Eric of Sweden
-Robert Dudley
-King Philip II of Spain
-Duke Francis

The Golden Age

-the elite got richer & contributed to flourishing architecture, arts & education
-Architecture: 'great rebuilding' done to impress E on her progresses : reflected wealth & stability of era
-Fashion: used as a status symbol, gentry used money to buy clothes in style of court fashions
-Theatre: stability of England emphasised, time to focus on past-times & become culturally aware
-Art: image was important, political purpose & showed status and connections
-Books&Music: growing interest in culture & entertainment

Hardwick Hall features

BESS OF HARDWICK
- mullioned windows: glass\=expensive; used to demonstrate great wealth
-symmetry: inspired by ancient civilisations ie Romans; culturally aware
-stair cases: grand and showed house had upper rooms; reflected wealth of owner
-great chamber: main room where guests received ; decorated grandly- wealth shown
-gallery: used for entertainment and display art- which showed wealth & portraits showed family connections
-decorative features: intrically decorated houses showed wealth and cultural understanding

Elizabethan Theaters

-Theatre thrived in 2nd half of E's reign
-First built in London in 1570s ie The Curtain
-usually round, open-aired buildings
-rich sat in galleries
-poor stood in pits

Who opposed theatres?

Puritans & London Authorities
-believed theatre encouraged immoral and evil behaviour & caused chaos/conflict
-believed Church attendance was declining as people choosing theatre over it
-also believed theatres spread plague

E's attitudes to theatre

-never attended a public theatre BUT enjoyed plays and often invited companies to court to perform for her
-was an important patron of The Theatre
-supported her fave actors & allowed a company to called 'The Queen's Men'

Why did people go the theatre?

-Poor: watch plays & distract selves; cheap entrance - all could enter
-Rich: attended so could be seen by other wealthy people; opportunity to show off status & connections: helped business contracts and potential marriages
-Criminals: easy place for crime to be committed ie theft

Why was poverty and issue in the Tudor times?

-dissolution of monasteries: no support for poor
-population growth: lack of job availabilities & food shortages
-changes in farming: new methods left many labourers unemployed and homeless
-bad harvests: led to food shortages & inflation

Categories of the poor

-Helpless poor: unable to support self (elderly, orphans, sick, disabled)
-Deserving poor: people who wanted to work but unable to find jobs in home town
-Undeserving poor: beggars, criminals, people who refused to work & migrant workers who travelled seeking work - seen as a threat to social order & heirachy

How government dealt with helpless & deserving poor

-1560s POOR LAW,
-the 'poor rate' was a tax passed by government as a system of poor relief
Didn't end poverty but helped 1000s of people - provided hospitals & housings - poor children were given apprenticeships & deserving poor given jobs and financial support

How government dealt with underserving poor

Harshly - publicly whipped, branded and forced to return to home parish
-repeat offenders imprisoned

E's religious settlement

•1558: in 2 elements- act of supremacy and act of uniformity
- aim to stop constant change of religion. and bring stability - aimed to please as many as possible w middle way

Act of Supremacy

1559
-England became a protestant country
-E became governor NOT HEAD of Church
-all clergy & members of court had to accept E's title - if refused were imprisoned
-Bishops were to help E govern (Catholics liked)

Act of Uniformity

1559
-Protestant prayer book and Bibles- English
-English services
-clergy allowed to marry
-ornaments & decorations allowed in Churches (Catholics liked)
-low recusants fine (Catholics liked as could afford to miss Protestant services)

Catholic threats

-1569: Mary Queen of Scots arrives in England
-1569: Northern rebellion
-1570: E excommunicated by Pope, Catholics encouraged to overthrow her
-1571: Rodolfi plot
-1580: arrival of Jesuits
-1583: Throckmorton plot
-1586: Babington plot

the Northern rebellion

1569
-MQofS arrived in England- gave Catholics hope she could replace E and restore Catholicism in England
-Duke of Norfolk & some Catholic nobles planned to overthrow E, plan got uncovered & they feared execution so rebelled & captured Durham & then headed to where Mary was held but army forced them to retreat and many were executed

Seriousness of Northern rebellion

-most serious rebellion of E's reign
-posed major threat to reign & showed danger of Mary as a rallying point for English Catholics
-created wide-spread fear & hatred of Catholics
HOWEVER: there was little support from rest of Catholic nobility & ordinary people - chose to support Queen

E's new laws against Catholics

1571: illegal to own Catholic items (rosary)
1581: much harsher recusancy fines (£20)
-high treason to covert to Catholicism
1589: Catholic priests ordained after 1559 considered traitors as were people who protected them
1593: Statute of confinement- catholics could not travel + 5 miles from home town

Puritan threat

-wanted a more Protestant Church
-strongly anti-Catholic wanted all traces removed from Church
— by 1570s Puritasn concerned with lack of educated priests to preach - introduced 'prophesysings' -E thought this was encourage Puritan opposition & in 1576 orders Archbishop of Canterbury to stop them, he refused and was suspended and put under house arrest
-E then ordered regulations & censorships to put on Puritan priests

Mary Queen of Scots

Born: 1542
Died: 1587
-became Queen of Scotland @ 6 days but lived in France for early life , mother ruled in her absence
-had a son; James VI
-related to Henry VIII , cousin of Elizabeth & Catholic - claim to throne

The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots

1586
-proven Mary had role in Babington plot and she was put on trial and executed

Consequences of execution of MQofS

-English: under control & no further religious rebellions
-Scotland: Mary's son James made unhappy feelings known but blamed council rather than E and took no action
-France: strong protests from people but King needed E as an ally so no action taken
-Spain: already at war with England by 1567, gave Phillip II an excuse to attack England- Armada sailed in 1588

Francis Drake

-'El Draque'
-English, First man to survive circum-navigating the globe
-was made a privateer by E which gave him a license to steal off the Spanish
•Drake's journey suggests the reasons for voyaging were:
-for monetary purposes : to steal off Spanish and bring wealth back to English
-to discover new lands & colonise them- power to England

Consequences of Elizabethan exploration

SHORT TERM:
-increased hostility between Spain&England
-brought wealth to England
-discovery of new substances ie tobacco
-improved E's images
LONG TERM:
-built English naval power
-broadened knowledge of the world
-expanded British empire
-increased wealth & trade links for England
-encouraged others to invent things and discover for themselves
-confirmed E's power to those who doubted her

Walter Raleigh

1584, sent settlers to establish a permanent colony in North America in a place called Roanoke , soon ran low on supplies and abandoned the colony and returned home
- sent a second group in 1587, who were expecting supplies which got delayed by Armada & when supply ship arrived in 1590- all settlers had disappeared

Reasons for conflict between Spain and Enlgand

-religious differences - E's settlement angered Philip as he was a devout Catholic- view E as a heretic
-marriage proposal- rejection infuriated him
-economic/power conflict- P wanted to power and wealth- saw it as simply a religious conquest to unite Catholicism in England & Spain
-role of privateers- attacks on Spanish ships & ports by English angered P / the Spanish
-problems in the Netherlands- E sent money to rebels fighting against the rule of P to secure their support

The Spanish Armada

-Fleet assembled by King Philip II of Spain to invade England
-However Drake was sent by E to spy on Spanish preparations & attack their ships & supplies - in 1587 he attacked the port of Cadiz & delayed the Armada for more than a year
-they then sailed in 1588

Spanish tactics

STRENGTHS:
-had 800 experienced sailors & 19,000 trained soldiers
-had 130 ships&64 battleships - could create a crescent formation
-more ships than English- strength in numbers
-gathered more troops: both Spanish and Dutch
WEAKNESSES:
-food supplies ie bacon/fish rotted easily
-larger ships were slow, heavy & difficult to handle in rougher seas
-fighting tactics were poorly thought out: method was to get as close as possible to board enemy ships & capture them- open to close range enemy fire
-weapons\=canons: short distance only
-inexperienced leader of fleet

English tactics

STRENGTHS:
-experienced team leading fleet
-English fighting in home territory- knew dead better
-stronger, lighter, faster ships - manoeuvred easily
-food supplied daily - healthy&good morale
-most weapons were light and easy to move
WEAKNESSES:
-soldiers hadn't been paid- unmotivated
-canons could not be fired effectively over long distances
-commander had little experience himself fighting at sea

Causes of the Essex rebellion

1601
-Earl of Essex himself: great thirst for power & wanted to become an important minister
-Essex/Cecil rivalry: whilst Essex was at Cadiz, E made C secretary of state- Essex \= furious Furthermore in 1599 whilst in Ireland, he heard news C was given another important job & furiously returned to England
-Elizabeth: banned Essex from court, so he lost all government jobs and then she refused to renew his monopoly on wine - he was desperate

Reasons the Essex rebellion failed

-rode to London in 1601, hoping many would support him- no one did (he overestimated his own popularity and underestimated E's)
-The privy council declared Essex a traitor & agreed to pardon those who deserted him Essex's few supporters left him- (overestimated loyalty of supporters and underestimated E's council who still backed her)
-Essex decided to use the 4 privy councillors he had imprisoned & held hostage to deal w E
-however when he returned home he found all councillors had been released & he was surrounded & put on trial
-he was executed & his rebellion lasted 24hrs

Importance of the Essex rebellion

-showed E did not have complete control over her privy council members & perhaps was losing authority at the end of her reign
-HOWEVER: showed the privy council in majority still supported her & didn't want to see her overthrown- she still had great influence over them
-AND it showed E's popularity with the people even at the end of her reign