Elizabethan England Blueprint AQA

What was the purpose of the Tudor system of patronage, and who managed it?

To ensure absolute political stability and loyalty from the nobility. Managed chiefly by Sir William Cecil, the queen granted titles, land and lucrative trade monopolies (sweet wines aka Earl of Sussex), making the political elite financially dependent on crown favour.

Why did monopolies cause severe political tension in the parliaments of 1597 and 1601?

They restricted free trade and artificially drove up prices on everyday staples (salt,iron,leather). Enraged MP's used parliamentary privilege to block taxes, forcing Elizabeth to deliver her famous Golden Speech (1601), promising to revoke the most damaging monopolies to maintain her royal prerogative ( monarch right to make decisions without Parliaments permission).

What triggered the Earl of Essex's Rebellion?

Include date.

Robert Devereux (Earl of Essex) lost the Queen's favour after factional rivalry with Robert Cecil and his failure to crush Hugh O’Neill’s rebellion in Ireland (Nine Year's War,1599). Financial ruin followed when Elizabeth refused to renew his sweet wine monopoly, driving him to a desperate, armed coup.

• In February 1601

Why did the Essex Rebellion collapse so rapidly within London?

Sir Robert Cecil acted with ruthless efficiency, quickly deploying the heralds to officially proclaim Essex a traitor across London. This terrified the public; the London populace completely ignored Essex's calls for an uprising, leading to his swift surrender and execution on 25 February 1601.

How did Elizabeth suppress Peter Wentworth and Parliament's demands for freedom of speech?

In 1576, MP Peter Wentworth demanded Parliament be allowed to debate the succession crisis and religion without royal interference. Elizabeth viewed this as an infringement on her royal prerogative. She used her power to imprison Wentworth in the Tower of London, where he eventually died in 1596.

How did the state categorize poverty, and what did the Vagabonds Act decree?

Include year.

Poverty was split into the impotent/deserving poor (unable to work) and idle/undeserving poor. The 1572 Act mandated that “undeserving” vagrants over the age of 14 were to be severely whipped, bored through the ear with a hot iron, or executed for a third offense.

(1572)

What were the exact legislative mechanisms of the Act for the Relief of the Poor?

Include year.

-It established a fully compulsory nationwide framework:

• A localized poor rate tax levied on all property owners.

• Appointment of Overseers of the Poor in every parish to ditribute relief.

• Setting the impotent poor to work in Houses of Correction (Bridewells).

• 1601

What was the geopolitical and financial significance of Francis Drake's global circumnavigation?

Include year range.

Sailing on the Golden Hind, Drake seized over £400,000 of Spanish silver from the treasure ship Cacafuego. Knighted by Elizabeth on his return, this act directly challenged King Philip ll's maritime monopoly, dramatically heightened Anglo-Spanish diplomatic tensions, and enriched the English treasury.

(1577-1580)

Why did Sir Walter Raleigh's colonization attempts at Roanoke, Virginia collapse?

Include year range.

Led by Governor John White, the colony failed due to severe food shortages after their flagship, the Tiger, was damaged, combined with hostile skirmishes with the local Secotan tribe. The impending Spanish Armada crisis delayed vital supply fleets until 1590, by which time the colonists had vanished.

(1585-1587)

Why did the Puritan Lord Mayor of London and city authorities ban theatres within city walls and what year did this happen?

In 1596, they published pamphlets claiming plays lured apprentices away from work, fostered widespread vice, and risked spreading the Bubonic Plague. Consequently, theatres like The Theatre (1576) and The Rose (1587) had to be built outside city jurisdiction in the suburbs like Southwark.

What was the impact of Pope Pius V's Papal Bull (Regnans in Excelsis)?

What year?

In 1570, the Bull officialy excommunicated Elizabeth, branding her a “heretic” and a “usurper”. Critically, it absolved English Catholics of their oath of allegiance to the Crown, transforming religious recunsancy into a direct act of political treason and sparking a wave of assassination plots.

How did the Act to Retain the Queen's Majesty's Subjects in their Due Obedience escalate anti-Catholic repression and what year?

In 1581, it was passed in response to the arrival of Catholic Jesuit priests (like Edmund Campion), this statute astronomically raised the financial penalty for missing protestant church services to a ruinous £20 a month - effectively bankrupting the Catholic gentry class.

How did Sir Francis Walsinham's spy network use proactive entrapment to secure Elizabeth's safety?

Serving as Secretary of State (1573-1590), Walsingham shifted state security from reactive defense to proactive entrapment. His network deployed double agents and codebreakers to intercept Catholic communications. This methodology achieved its ultimate success during the Babington Plot (1586), where Walsingham deliberately allowed the conspiracy to progress in order to entrap Mary, Queen of Scots with undeniable, written evidence of treason.

How did the Babington Plot (1586) directly cause the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots in February 1587?

Anthony Babington wrote a coded letter outlining a plot to assassinate Elizabeth. Walsingham's agents intercepted these letters inside beer barrels. Mary replied, explicitly giving her written consent to the murder, providing Sir William Cecil with the undeniable evidence required to sign her death warrant.

What were the 3 core legal and administrative pillars that formed Elizabeth's Religious Settlement. When did this happen?

1559.

• Act of Supremacy- Elizabeth was styler as Supreme Governor to appease Catholics who only recognized the Pope. All clergy swore an oath of Supremacy.

• Act of Uniformity- Mandated the nationwide use of the protestant 1559 Book of Common Prayer. To avoid Catholic Rebellion, it kept ambiguous wording around the Eucharist and allowed traditional church decorations.

• Royal Injunctions- A set of 57 administrative rules issued by William Cecil to enforce the acts. They legally mandated that all clergy preach Protestant sermons, use an English Bible, and destroy Catholic “monuments of superstition”, while simultaneously preserving traditional music and clerical vestments to avoid a conservative backlash.

When and what was the Vestment Controversy and how did it challenge the settlement?

In 1566, an early Puritan challenge against traditional vestments (surplices) worn by priests, which they dismissed as “popish rags”. Led by Archbishop Matthew Parker, the government issued the Advertisements, enforcing uniformity. 37 London priests refused to comply and were immediately deprived of their livings, demonstrating Elizabeth's refusal to compromise her legal authority over church style.

What were the Prophesyings, and why did they cause a clash with Archbishop Edmund Grindal?

Prophesyings were prayer meetings where Puritan clergy gathered to practice preaching. Elizabeth ordered them suppressed, fearing they were breeding grounds for political radicalism. When the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Grindal, refused her order in 1576, arguing that preaching was vital, Elizabeth placed him under house arrest, completely paralyzing the Church's leadership until his death.

Trace tye escalation of 3 recusancy fines and legislation.

• 1559 Act of Uniformity- 1 shilling per Sunday missed.

• 1581 Act to Retain Subjects- Hiked to a crippling £20 a month after the Papal Bull and arrival of Jesuit priests.

• 1593 Act Against Seditious Sectaries- Confined un-cooperative Catholics to a 5-mile radius of their homes.

What were the underlying causes and the key events of the Northern Rebellion?

In 1569, led by the earls of Northumberland and Westmorland, it combined religious resentment with political alienation. The rebels seized Durham Cathedral, held an illegal Catholic Mass and marched south to free Mary, Queen of Scots. It collapsed when Elizabeth moved Mary further south and raised a force of 14,000.

Explain the international mechanics and failure of the Ridolfi Plot.

In 1571, ochestrated by Italian banker Roberto Ridolfi, the plot aimed to assassinate Elizabeth, launch an invasion of 10,000 Spanish troops led by Duke of Alba, and place Mary on the throne to marry Duke of Norfolk. William Cecil uncovered the plot by intercepting letters. This led directly to the execution of Norfolk in June 1572 and triggered the 1571 Treason Act.

What was the strategic goal of the Throckmorton Plot and what was its legal consequence?

In 1583, Francis Throckmorton acted as the intermediary between Mary and the French Duke of Guise, who planned a Catholic invasion funded by King Philip ll of Spain. Uncovered by Francis Walsingham's surveillance network, Throckmorton was executed. It revealed the danger of a combined French-Spanish alliance and prompted the creation of the Bond of Association (1584).

What did the Act for the Preservation of the Queen's Safety legally dictate?

What year?

In 1585, it institutionalised the Bond of Association into statutory law. It ruled that in the event of an assassination attempt on Elizabeth, anyone who stood to benefit from her death would be entirely barred from the succession and executed, regardless of whether they personally authorised the plot.

Why was the signing of the Treaty of Nonsuch an irreversible turning point?

In 1585, Elizabeth officially agreed to take over the protection of the Netherlands, providing financial backing for 7,400 English soldiers to support Dutch Protestant rebels against Spanish rule. This direct military intervention destroyed all remaining diplomatic avenues with Spain, acting as the de facto declaration of war that prompted Philip ll to construct the Armada.

How did Elizabethan agricultural changes directly cause the poverty crisis?

Landlords abandoned arable (crop) farming for enclosure to profit from the lucrative cloth trade. Sheep farming required far fewer labourers, causing mass rural unemployment and forcing desperate peasants into towns. This structural vulnerability collapsed during the 1594-1597 harvest failures driving food prices to fatal levels and forcing Elizabeth's government to pass the 1601 Poor Law to prevent full-scale rebellion.