Elizabethan England 1558 - 1603

Features of the Court

• made up of noblemen who acted as the monarch's advisers and friends

• they advised the monarch and helped display her wealth and power.

• members of the court could also be members of the Privy Council.

Features of the Justices of the Peace

Large landowners; appointed by government, who kept law and order locally and heard court cases

Features of the Lord Lieutenants

Noblemen, appointed by government, who governed English counties and raised the local militia.

Features of the Privy Council

• members of the nobility who helped govern the country.

• they monitored parliament and Justices of the Peace

• oversaw law and order and the security of the country.

Features of the Parliament

• advised Elizabeth's government, made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

• the house of Lords was made up of noblemen and bishops.

• the house of Commons was elected, though very few people could vote.

• Parliament passed laws and approved taxes (extraordinary taxation)

When did Elizabeth become queen?

1558

Why was the power of Elizabeth limited?

Elizabeth did not possess complete power. She could not pass laws without parliament's approval, or raise taxes without parliament's agreement.

Elizabeth's character and strengths

• Highly intelligent and well educated (she spoke Latin, Greek, French and Italian)

• Understood the dangerous world of court politics as she had been imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1554 on suspicion of treason.

• Confident and charismatic (able to make great speeches which won over her subjects, although she also had a temper people feared)

What were England's financial weaknesses in 1558?

-The Crown was £300,000 in debt |(due to Mary Tudor) and had an annual income of only £286,667.
-Mary Tudor had sold off Crown lands to pay for wars with France, so the Crown's income from rents was falling.
-Elizabeth needed money to remain secure
on the throne, as she could use it to reward her supporters.
-Since the 1540s, the Crown has devalued the coinage, by reducing its silver and gold content, in order to make more money to fight wars against France. This resulted in inflation, as the value of currency fell.

How could monarchs raise money?

• Rents and income from their own lands (Crown lands).
• Taxes from trade (known as customs duties).
• Special additional taxes, known as subsidies, which had to be agreed by parliament.
• Profits of justice (fines, property or lands from people convicted of crimes).
• Loans (sometimes loans were 'forced', meaning they were compulsory and never repaid).

How was France a threat to Elizabeth?

• France was wealthier than England and had a bigger population.

• Elizabeth's cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, was married to the French king, Francis II.

• Mary had a strong claim to the English throne and English Catholics might rally to her if the French invaded.

Features of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis

England had lost Calais to France. This was England's last remaining territory on the continent and there was pressure on Elizabeth to regain it. However, war with
France would be expensive and dangerous.

What happened after France ended its war with Spain?

French military resources were no longer stretched by war with Spain, making a war with England more likely. There was also the possibility that France and Spain, both Catholic countries, would unite against Protestant England. Spain also had troops in the Netherlands, not far from England.

Why couldn't England go to war against France, Scotland or Spain?

War was an expensive business and the Crown was in debt, England could not afford a war with France, Scotland or Spain, as this would be ruinously expensive and deepen the government's debts.

How did Elizabeth deal with the challenges from abroad?

• She sought to avoid war with France by signing the Peace of Troyes (1564), which recognised once and for all the French claim to Calais.
• Elizabeth was able to deal with the threat posed by Scotland by placing Mary, Queen of Scots, who fled Scotland in 1568, in custody in England.
• By imprisoning Mary and making peace with France, Elizabeth had only one significant threat by
1569: Spain.

Why was religion important in Elizabethan England?

• Religion was central to life in England. Religious teaching and practices guided people's morals and behaviour as well as their understanding of the world. Birth, marriage and death were all marked by religious ceremonies.
• People believed that going to church, attending pilgrimages and confessing sins reduced time in
purgatory where the soul was purged of sin using 'spiritual fire' before reaching heaven.

Why did Elizabeth establish a religious settlement, and what year?

Tried to create a settlement which would satisfy all religious groups in 1559.

What was the Act of Uniformity?

Established the appearance of churches and how
religious services were to be held. It required everyone to attend church.

What was the Act of Supremacy?

Elizabeth became Supreme Governor (Head) of the Church of England. All clergy and royal officials had to swear an oath of allegiance to her.

What was the Ecclesiastical High Commission?

Established to keep discipline within the Church and enforce Elizabeth's religious settlement. Disloyal clergy could be punished.

What were the Royal Injunctions?

A set of instructions to reinforce the acts of Supremacy and Uniformity. Also stated that al clergy were required to keep a copy of the Bible in English and had to wear vestments.

Impacts of the religious settlement

• 8000 clergy out of about 10000 accepted the religious settlement.
• Many Marian Bishops (Catholic Bishops appointed by Mary Tudor) opposed the settlement and had to be replaced.
• The majority of ordinary people accepted Elizabeth's religious settlement and attended the church services, even though many of them held on to Catholic beliefs.

What was the role of the Church of England?

• Enforced Elizabeth's religious settlement of 1559.

• It preached the government's message - priests had to do this to be given a government's licence enabling them to preach. -Visitations - bishops inspected churches and clergy to ensure they obeyed the religious settlement. -Legitimised Elizabeth's rule - encouraged people to be loyal to Elizabeth.

What was the role of parish clergy in village life?

• In all parishes the clergyman conducted church services including baptisms, weddings and funerals.
• The clergy offered spiritual and practical advice and guidance to people, especially when times were difficult (such as during a poor harvest).
• The clergy were funded by taxes or tithes

How did Mary Queen of Scots have a claim to the throne?

Mary, Queen of Scots, was Henry VII's great-granddaughter and Elizabeth's second cousin. She was Catholic and had a legitimate claim to the English
throne. Mary was married to the French king, Francis II, and inherited the Scottish crown when she was only six days old. While Mary was in France, her mother, Mary of Guise, ruled Scotland.

Why does Mary leave Scotland? Why do Scottish rebels want Mary?

Francis II dies, marries Lord Darnley and produces an heir, he suspiciously dies, marries Earl of Bothwell, captured, made to give up throne and flees to England

Mary's imprisonment in England, 1568

Mary was held in England in comfort but under guard while Elizabeth decided what to do with her. The Scottish rebels demanded that Mary be handed over and tried the murder of Darnley.

Elizabeth's options with Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1568-69

1. Help Mary regain her throne - this would anger Scottish nobility.

2. Hand Mary over to the Scottish lords - could anger France as she was Francis' former wife.

3. Allow Mary to go abroad - Mary could plot against her

4. Keep Mary in England - best option but could mean that Catholic plotters could try and overthrow her and replace her with Elizabeth

Why did Elizabeth not make Mary her heir?

Could upset English Protestants and result in civil war

Why did the Northern Earls rebel?

• wanted to make England catholic again

• earls had lost influence under Elizabeth

• elizabeth's refusal to name an heir, or to marry and have a child, created uncertainty

What was the plot of the Revolt of the Northern Earls? What year was it?

Mary would marry the Duke of Norfolk, depose (remove) Elizabeth and become queen herself, plotted in 1569.

Why did the Revolt of the Northern Earls fail?

• support from spain never arrived.
• many northern landowners remained loyal to Elizabeth.
• many landowners did not want to risk losing wealth by backing a failed revolt.

What was the significance of the Revolt of the Northern Earls?

• It showed Mary could not be trusted - and she remained in prison.
• The pope excommunicated Elizabeth and called on loyal Catholics to depose her. This encouraged further Catholic plots against her.
• The loyalty of England's Catholics was now
in doubt.
• Elizabeth's control over the north of England was strengthened.

What was the Ridolfi Plot? What year was it?

1571, Lead by a catholic banker Roberto Ridolfi, who felt foreign support was needed. The plan was for the Netherlands to invade England at the time of another northern rebellion and put Mary Queen Of Scots on the throne who would marry Norfolk.

What was the significance of the Ridolfi Plot?

- After the Papal Bull and excommunication, Confirmed that Catholics home

What was the Papal Bull? What year was it established?

The Pope declared that Elizabeth was a heretic and, as such, she was excommunicated by way of a Papal Bull in 1570. The Bull released Catholics from any loyalty to Elizabeth and called upon them to remove her from the throne.

What was the Throckmorton Plot? When was it?

The French Duke of Guise plotted to invade England
and overthrow Elizabeth, free Mary and make England Catholic again, in 1583.
• Philip II offered to help pay for the revolt and the pope approved of the conspiracy.
• Francis Throckmorton, a young Englishman, would pass letters between the plotters and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Why did the Throckmorton plot fail?

• In November 1583, Walsingham's spies found
papers at Throckmorton's house that revealed
his part in the conspiracy.
• Throckmorton was arrested and tortured, confessed to his involvement and was executed in May 1584.

What was the Babington Plot and when was it?

The Duke of Guise would invade England, murder Elizabeth and put Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne. Philip II and the pope supported this. Occurred in 1586.

Why was the Babington Plot significant?

• By 1585, England and Spain were virtually at war.
• Elizabeth's government became determined to crush the Catholic threat.
• The persecution of Catholics intensified. In 1585, 11000 Catholics were imprisoned or placed under house arrest. 31 priests were executed across the country in 1586.
• The plot led to the execution of Mary, ending any hope of replacing Elizabeth with a Catholic heir.

Why was Sir Francis Walsingham important?

• his actions provided intelligence that defeated plots

• intelligence unmasked the activities of Mary, Queen of Scots - put pressure on Elizabeth to execute her and led to Mary's execution in early 1587

• actions also deterred further plots against Elizabeth

What was Walsingham's' spy network?

• had a network of spies and informants in every town

• some of the agents were paid and trained by the government

• others were paid informants - these were often people who knew or were likely to know potential plotters

• Walsingham also used spies aboard such as in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and North Africa

What were agent provocateurs?

Employed to encourage those who were seen as a threat to Elizabeth to plot against her. This justified their arrest and execution.

What was the Spanish Fury? What year was it?

By 1576, the Spanish government in the Netherlands found the war there unaffordable. A lack of funds meant Spanish troops went unpaid. This resulted in the Spanish Fury, when Spanish troops looted Antwerp.

What was the Pacification of Ghent?

All 17 Dutch provinces joined an alliance against the Spanish, drawn up in a document called the Pacification of Ghent. It called for all Spanish troops to be expelled from the Netherlands.

How did England respond to the Dutch Revolt?

Elizabeth's government decided to secretly help Dutch Protestants resist the Spanish. She gave Dutch Rebel ships safe passage in English ports, provided them financial support, and encouraged English privateers to attack Spanish colonies

Reasons for deteriorating relations between England and Spain

• Elizabeth, by knighting Drake, demonstrated her defiance of and hostility towards Spain's commercial
interests in Europe and the New World. Her actions showed her support of the financial losses suffered by the Spanish government as a result of English privateering.
• For Philip II, Drake and other privateers were little more than pirates who needed to be removed by war if necessary.

What was the impact of privateering?

• English merchants, financed by private investors, including Elizabeth herself, raided Spanish colonies
• In one raid alone, in 1572, Sir Francis Drake captured £40000 in Spanish silver.
• By 1580, loss of silver meant that the Spanish government in the Netherlands was bankrupt and could not afford to pay its soldiers.

What was the Treaty of Nonsuch? What year was it?

1585: The treaty finally led to England providing the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands with a small military force that would aid the rebels in their fight against Spain.

What was the 'Singeing of the King of Spain's beard'? When did it occur?

• In March 1587, Elizabeth ordered Francis Drake to attack the Spanish navy. He attacked Cadiz, a major
Spanish naval port, destroying 30 ships and much of the fleet's supplies. This attack was called the 'singeing of the King of Spain's beard'.
• Drake then continued to attack Spanish coastal ports and treasure ships.

How were Drake's attacks on Cadiz and Spain significant?

• The disruption Drake caused did not stop the Armada, but it delayed it by a year.
• This bought England more time to prepare for the eventual Spanish attack and invasion in 1588.

Why did Philip launch the Spanish Armada?

• Wanted to remove Elizabeth from the throne and replace her with a Catholic ruler
• Drake's actions in the New World threatened Spain
• Elizabeth's supported the Dutch rebels

Why was the Armada such a threat?

If the Armada succeeded, Elizabeth could lose her throne and possibly her life. For English Protestants a successful invasion meant the restoration of Catholicism in England and the persecution of Protestants.

What were the reasons for English victory against the Spanish Armada?

• English ships were better armed and equipped. Cannons were mounted on smaller gun carriages than on Spanish ships. This meant they could be loaded and fired more quickly than the Spanish cannons. This damaged many Spanish ships.

• The weather. Gale force winds caused most of the destruction to the Spanish ships as they retreated home. Many Spanish ships were destroyed off the west of Ireland.

• Spanish ships lacked supplies and provisions, including food, for a long voyage. The Spanish fleet was at sea for 10 weeks and by early August the food had rotted. This damaged Spanish morale and their ability to fight the English.

What were the consequences of the English victory against the Spanish Armada?

• Elizabeth's authority enhanced.

• English navy strengthened.

• Protestant cause stronger in England.

• The defeat of the Armada was a major military and financial setback for King Philip II of Spain.

• However, Spain's war with England continued for the rest of Elizabeth's reign.

• Spanish prestige was broken. Other countries became more willing to challenge Spain's power. This led to the gradual decline of the Spanish Empire.

What were the attitudes towards education?

• Elizabethan England had no national system of education. The purpose of education was to help people prepare for their expected roles in life, so it was focused on practical skills and possibly basic literacy - only an estimated 15-20% of the population could read and write.

• The view was that only the rich needed to attend. People saw no need to provide a formal education for the vast majority of the population.

How did influences on education change?

• Protestants argued that people ought to be able to
study the scriptures. This required people to be able
to read, boosting literacy.
• The growth of the printing press meant books became
less expensive, giving people more opportunities to
read.
• The growth of trade in the Elizabethan era required
ordinary people to be able to read, write and understand mathematics so they could record
transactions properly. This encouraged more people
to become literate.

What types of people were poor?

• Widows or women abandoned by their husbands and their families - women were paid very little

• The sick and the elderly - were uncapable of work

• Orphaned children - 40% of the poor were under 16 years old

• People on low wages

• Itinerants, vagrants and vagabonds - homeless people who moved from their parishes looking for work - oftened involved in crimes and worried those in authority

Reasons for poverty in Elizabethan England

• The population of England increased from 3 million to 4.2 million from 1551 to 1601.

• Enclosure. Land was divided into fields for animal husbandry and/or arable farming and given to farmers who farmed for profit.

• Sheep farming. Growth of wool trade meant many farmers preferred to rear sheep than grow food.

• dissolution of monasteries: no support for poor

• bad harvests: led to food shortages & inflation

How did attitudes towards the poor change?

• the fear that poverty led to disorder and was a potential cause of rebellion
• the cost of dealing with the poor

What were the two types of people in poverty?

• the deserving or impotent poor (the old and the sick) who could not help themselves
• the idle poor (those who could work but chose not to do so).

What was the Vagabonds Act? What year was it?

1572: Vagrants were:
• whipped and a hole drilled through each ear as a mark of shame, to warn others of their vagrancy
• imprisoned if arrested again for vagrancy
• given the death penalty for a third offence.

What was the poor rate?

A local tax organised by Justices of the Peace (JPs), with the proceeds spent on improving the lives of the poor.

What were the reasons for exploration?

• The development of maps

• Expanding trade

• Adventure

Why did Drake circumnavigate the globe?

• He was attacking Spain. Drake did not aim to sail around the world. His main purpose was to raid Spanish colonies in the Pacific, as relations with Spain were declining at this time.
• Revenge. The Spanish had attacked Drake's fleet and most of his men had been killed.
• Profit. Loot, booty and trade meant there were huge profits to be made from Drake's proposed journey to the Americas and beyond, so people were willing to invest in the expedition, including Elizabeth.

What was the significance of Drake's circumnavigation of the globe?

• England's reputation as a sea faring power increased.

• English ships began to trade elsewhere.

• Encouraged further trade and exploration, especially to the New World, where colonies were established in New England.

Sir Walter Raleigh and his colonisation of Virginia

• In 1584, Elizabeth gave Raleigh a grant to explore and settle lands in North America.
• Raleigh needed to raise huge amounts of money and encourage potential English colonists to leave their homes and settle in a land many knew little about.

Why was Virginia colonised?

• Trade. The colony could produce crops, sugar cane and tobacco that could be brought back to England.

• England would be less dependent on Spain, France and Italy for imported goods.

• Welcoming and friendly natives.

Why did the colonisation of Virginia fail?

• Lack of food. First colonists left England too late to reach Virginia in time to plant crops. One of their five ships let in seawater, ruining the food it was carrying.

• Native American attack. In 1586, angered by the diseases they had brought, Algonquian Chief Winginia led an attack on the colonists.

• The war with Spain. From 1585, England was effectively at war with Spain. The threat from the Armada meant that few ships were available to visit or resupply the colonists. The colonists were increasingly isolated and vulnerable to attack.

What did the leisure activities people participated in depend on?

Their social status and class.

What sports did the nobility and gentry participate in?

Horseback hunting, hawking, fencing, fishing and real tennis.

What sports could all classes participate in?

Wrestling, swimming and gambling.

Who played football?

The lower classes as it was a very free sport with basically no rules; deaths in matches were not uncommon.

What were spectator sports?

Sports or fights which were watched by the upper classes and often bet upon with large sums of money for entertainment.

What was bear baiting?

When a bear was chained to a post and dogs were unleashed on it, then the audience watched the two fight to the death.

Why did Puritans disprove of cock fighting?

Because it took place on Sundays- a holy day.

What types of literature were popular?

Poetry and plays, as well as history which grew increasingly popular.

What were mystery plays?

Plays which brought stories from the Bible to life, however some Protestants believed this was the Church's way of gaining more control over the Bible's interpretations.

What were secular plays?

Non-religious plays introduced by Elizabeth to avoid violence in mystery plays.

What, were and when was the first theatre built?

The Red Lion in Whitechapel in 1567.

How was music enjoyed?

Often at home in upper classes, in secular plays, and at fairs and markets.

What were the attitudes to education?

Its purpose was to provide you with essential skills and sometimes basic literacy; it heavily reflected the social hierarchy, however, so only a small amount of children went to school.

What gender mainly went to school?

Boys.

Who were humanists?

People who believed education was essential to understanding the world around them better and to fulfil their purpose in life as well as stopping superstitions.

What did protestants believe about education?

That they should be able to read and interpret the bible in their own language.

What role did education play in businesses and trade?

It was important to be able to work in business and trade so it grew increasingly important.

How were children of the nobility taught at home?

They would often be tutored at home and later sent to another household to continue their education.

What subjects did children of the nobility learn?

Subjects that Elizabeth was also educated in: foreign languages, theology, government and philosophy.

What skills were boys taught?

Additional lessons of swimming, wrestling, fencing, archery and horse riding.

What were girls taught?

Useful social contacts, needlework, horse riding, archery, music and dancing.

Who attended grammar schools?

Boys from upper class families that were considered smart, usually from the gentry, professionals or wealthy business owners.

Who didn't have to pay school fees?

Poor boys did not have to pay fees

Who funded the schools?

Old people who left money for schools in their will.

How long was the school day?

6am - 5pm.

How were pupils punished in school?

Corporal punishment, being on report, exclusion, detentions, and talking to parents.

What were sons of merchants taught?

More practical subjects like arithmetic, geography and English.

What were sons of skilled craftsmen and yeomen taught?

They often went into apprenticeships.

What were petty schools?

Schools run at homes of teachers, usually with harsh punishment.

What were Dame Schools?

Schools for girls run by local women and heavily focussed on home life and domestic skills.

What education did labourers and poor children receive?

Usually no formal education because they were in the lower class.