Elizabethan England Study Notes

Elizabethan Society and Governance

Structure of Elizabethan Society

  • The structure of Elizabethan society was based on The Great Chain of Being, which was a hierarchical framework that organized society according to rank and responsibility.

Titles in Early Elizabethan England

  1. Knight
  2. Esquire

Early Elizabethan Peasantry

  • The early Elizabethan peasantry was primarily made up of two groups:
      1. Yeomanry
      2. Tenant farmers

Role of the Privy Council

  • The Privy Council was essentially the government of Elizabethan England, composed of 19 men who were responsible for the day-to-day running of the country. They acted as Elizabeth's chief advisers.

Houses of Parliament

  • The two houses in Parliament were called:
      1. House of Lords
      2. House of Commons

Justices of the Peace

  • Justices of the Peace were appointed officials tasked with maintaining law and order within their counties.

Elizabeth's Accession

  • Elizabeth became queen in 1558.

Elizabeth's Mother

  • Elizabeth's mother was Anne Boleyn.

Need for Marriage

  • People believed Elizabeth needed to marry to strengthen her claim to the throne by marrying a European prince and to have a child and heir.

War at the Start of Reign

  • When Elizabeth ascended to the throne, England was at war with France.

Elizabeth's Inherited Debt

  • Upon becoming queen, Elizabeth inherited a debt of £300,000.

Poverty Increase Reasons

  • Reasons for the increasing poverty included:
      - Tudor monarchs raised taxes
      - The English economy relied heavily on wool and cloth trades, which had collapsed
      - Population growth accompanied by a series of bad harvests

Important Social Members Below the Queen

  • The most important social members below the Queen were the nobility.

Elizabeth's Personal Problems

  • The three major personal problems that Elizabeth faced upon ascending the throne included legitimacy, gender, and marriage.

England's Debt Holder

  • Most of England’s debt was owed to the Antwerp Exchange.

Mary I's House Arrest of Elizabeth

  • Mary I placed Elizabeth under house arrest in 1554.

Established Church Post Henry VIII

  • The Church of England was established after Henry VIII's break with Rome.

English Bibles

  • Bibles would be expected to be written in English in Protestant churches.

Puritan Goals

  • Puritans wanted to help 'purify' the Church by removing all remaining Catholic influences.

Religious Settlement and Daily Life

Organization of Lives

  • People’s lives in England were primarily organized around the religious calendar.

Common Religious Ceremonies

  • Examples of religious ceremonies everyone experienced, regardless of their social position, included baptism and marriage.

Elizabeth's Religious Settlement Acts

  • The two Acts that formed Elizabeth's religious settlement in 1559 were:
      1. The Act of Supremacy
      2. The Act of Uniformity

Title from the Act of Supremacy

  • The Act of Supremacy officially designated Elizabeth as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Controversy of Supreme Governor Title

  • The controversy arose because the Pope did not recognize Elizabeth's religious authority over the Church of England any longer.

Clergy Oaths Post-Supremacy

  • After the Act of Supremacy was enacted, all clergy members were required to swear an oath of loyalty to Elizabeth.

Protestantism's Official Religion

  • Protestantism became the official religion in England following the enactment of the Act of Uniformity (1559).

Language of Common Prayer and the Bible

  • The Book of Common Prayer and the Bible were printed in English following the religious settlement.

Weekly Church Attendance Punishments

  • Individuals in England who failed to attend church weekly after the religious settlement would face fines.

Public Sentiment Towards the Settlement

  • Most people in England were happy with Elizabeth's new religious settlement.

Papal Bull of 1570

  • The papal bull issued by Pope Pius V in 1570 called for Elizabeth's excommunication from the Catholic Church and urged Catholics to remove her from power.

Major Catholic Powers in Europe

  • The two most powerful Catholic countries in Europe during this period were Spain and France.

Jesuits

  • The Jesuits were a Catholic society established in France in 1540, aimed at promoting Catholicism during the Counter-Reformation.