Civi séance 6
Elizabeth was expected to marry a foreign prince but they were all Catholic.
The prospect of a marriage was a diplomatic tool.
Robert Dudley (1532-1588):
son of the late John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
his wife Amy died in 1560 (suspicious fall down a staircase)
created Earl of Leicester in 1564
the common folk had welcomed restored Catholicism
the gentry having benefitted from the dissolution of monasteries were less enthusiastic
the clergy were divided
the aristocracy remained Catholic, especially in the West and North
English Catholics: Church papists vs Recusants
Act of Uniformity imposed fines for non-attendance
Church-papists = Catholics attended parish churches out of social obligation
Recusants = Catholics who refused to attend the divine service
1562: the Council of Trent ruled that it was not possible for a Catholic to attend heretical service
Catholic clergy were not allowed to exercise in England => priests, nuns or monks had to emigrate
300 Catholics fled to the continent
William Allen founded the English College in Douai in 1568
The mission was to sustain the Catholic community in England
Clandestine networks developed
1569: the Rising of the North=> no popular support
25 February 1570: Pius V issued the bull Regnans in Excelsis excommunicating Elizabeth I
1571: “Act against the bringing in and putting in execution of bulls writings or instruments and other superstitious things from the See of Rome”
1576: Jesuit college founded in Rome
1580: Robert Parsons and Edmund Campion landed secretly in England
1581: Campion captured and executed for treason
Anti-Catholic legislation
1581: Act of Persuasions raised the recusancy fine from 12d per service to £20 per month
1585: Act “against Jesuits and seminary priests" left the priests who were captured a choice between exile or death
1587: Recusancy Act allowed confiscation of 2/3 of lands for those who did not pay the fine
1593: Act Restraining Popish Recusants banned Catholics from large gatherings
by 1600 there were c.40,000 Catholics in England (1% of total population)
Mary Stuart and the Catholic Conspiracies
May 1568: The Scottish Queen escapes captivity and seeks asylum in England
She was kept in ‘comfortable confinement’, far from the court
The Duke of Norfolk planned to marry Mary, but Elizabeth ordered against
September 1569: Rebellion of the northern earls: Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland (Norfolk refused to join)
March 1571: Ridolfi Plot involving Roberto Ridolfi (Florentine banker), the Pope, Philip II, Mary Stuart & Norfolk (the latter executed) discovered by Francis Walsingham.
1571: William Cecil created baron of Burghley
1580: Confirmation of the bull
1583: Throckmorton Plot
1584: Bond of Association
1586: Babington Plot => exchange of letters between Anthony Babington and Mary
Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots 8 February 1587
International Politics: The Netherlands and Spain
1567: the Duke of Alva crushed the revolt in the Netherlands
Spain became the main threat to England
Dutch pirates (“Sea Beggars”) were regularly using English ports
Philip and Elizabeth were trying to maintain neutral relationships
1572: under Spanish pressure, Elizabeth ceased helping the Sea Beggars
Elizabeth allowed marriage negotiations with Henri, Duke of Anjou (the future Henri III)
24 Aug. 1572: Saint Bartholomew’s massacre ended diplomacy with France
1573: William of Orange gathered the Sea Beggars under his banner Elizabeth refused support him, but advised Philip II to grant autonomy to Netherlands
She also managed to restore commercial relations between England and Spain
Elizabeth distrusted the radical Calvinists, and those who rebelled against a rightful monarch, and was wary of the finances
1577: sent Leicester with troops to the Netherlands and sent Walsingham to
negotiate with Spain 1578: marriage negotiations with Francis, Duke of Alençon (Henri III’s brother)
1584: death of Alençon and assassination of William of Orange
The Spanish Armada
1585: Treaty of Nonsuch between England and the Netherlands
Leicester was appointed Governor of the provinces
Francis Drake was sent to plunder Spanish ships on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and eventually raided Cadiz in 1587
July 1588: Philip II’s Armada sailed to meet the fleet from Flanders
Drake, leading the English fleet, inflicted damage on the Spanish ships, then defeated by heavy storms
Elizabeth saw in the victory a sign from God
The Armada Portrait (George Gower, 1588)
1596: failure of the second Spanish invasion
1589-1598: Elizabeth helped Henri IV with money & troops
1598: Peace of Vervins signed between France and Spain
English patriotism became Protestant patriotism
The Cult of the Virgin Queen
loyalty became a central stake in government communication “
several symbols associated with the Queen:
• God’s anointed
• ancient goddess
• virgin
• subject for courtly love
Astraea, the last Roman goddess to leave the earth, expected to announce a new Golden Age
Virgin Queen // Virgin Mary
The cult of Elizabeth was consolidated by a new festival on 17 November (day of her accession)
“progresses” = summer visitations
She never visited the West and North, never crossed rivers Severn or Trent
The Golden Age and the literary awakening
native literature in English began to assert itself, especially poetry and drama
the morality plays and mystery cycles performed in churches paved the way
for professional theatres
pleasing the literate as the illiterate
This was the age of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Ben Jonson…
Censorship: in 1566 the Privy Council gave the Stationers’ Company control over what was performed or printed
all entertaining activities were under the authority of the Lord Chamberlain
The Final Years
Parliament’s growing discontent with monopolies granted by the Queen
(ex: iron, bottles, vinegar, brushes, pots, salt, lead and oil)
Robert Cecil VS Essex —> rivalry resulting in faction politics
Essex’s Rebellion
Robert Devereux 2nd Earl of Essex (1565-1601)
1596: successful expedition against Cadiz (with Drake)
March 1599: Essex sent to Ireland with 16,000 troops to end Tyrone’s rebellion
28 September 1599: Essex returns to England and is sequestered
5 June 1600: Essex tried and deprived of knighthood and revenue
8 February 1601: Essex’s rebellion
25 February 1601: Essex beheaded for high treason
Elizabethan politics: no factions but tensions
Changes in the Church => disappearance of the abbots and slow decay of the abbeys.
Changes in government => smaller Privy Council with no bishops (with the exception of Whitgift).
Unlike Henry and Edward’s Regents, Elizabeth granted few titles: there were no dukes left at the end of her reign.
Nevertheless corruption continued to grow among office-holders.
As the Queen refused to talk about succession, Robert Cecil started secret negotiations with James VI of Scotland, which helped him remain close to power after dynastic change.
Elizabeth died on 24 March 1603 and her Protestant Scottish cousin succeeded her as James I of England.
Catholics hoped he would tolerate them; Puritans believed he would promote them. Both were to be disappointed…