Elizabeth I’s Court and Parliament

Background on Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I’s mother was Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, the Tudor king of England from 1491 to 1547. While Henry VIII is famous for having six wives, he only had three legitimate children: Edward IV, Mary I and Elizabeth I. After Edward IV’s premature death and a period of Mary I reigning England as an oppressive Catholic ruler, Elizabeth I took the throne in 1558 after Mary died heirless. 

The Elizabethan government 

Within the Elizabethan government, there were several smaller organisations that had different roles. Some are unheard of today, so make sure to study them carefully as they may be unfamiliar. 

Elizabeth’s Privy Council

• Elizabeth chose a small group of nineteen men to minimise conflict between them. 

• She had to monitor the group to make sure there was not an imbalance of power or any discontent among smaller factions of the council. 

• The council initially met three times per week, but as their influence grew and their guidance was needed more during tumultuous periods, they later met every day. 

• They advised on both domestic (within England) and foreign (abroad) policy, such as how to handle threats, when to go to war, relations with foreign powers such as Spain and France, and supervising the enforcement of policies that aimed for religious changes. 

• The Privy Council was particularly influential in the enforcement of the Religious Settlement. 

  • The Religious Settlement was an attempt made by Elizabeth I in 1559 to end conflict in England between Catholics and Protestants and unite the country. 
    

Elizabeth’s main advisers

William Cecil 

• Elizabeth appointed Cecil as the Secretary of State in 1558. 

• He held the position for 40 years and was her most important minister. 

• In 1571 he received the title Lord Burghley. 

Robert Dudley 

• Earl of Leicester

• A trusted adviser until he died in 1588. 

• Elizabeth and him were very close, and there were rumours that he and Elizabeth were lovers. 

Sir Francis Walsingham 

• In charge of Elizabeth’s secret service

• Advised on foreign affairs

• In 1586, he uncovered the plot that led to Mary, Queen of Scots’ execution.

Robert Devereux (the Earl of Essex)

• Extremely apt at dealing with foreign affairs and joined the Privy Council in 1593

• Extremely popular with Elizabeth and the common people

• Disobeyed Elizabeth by making peace with a rebellion in 1598 and banned from the court

• 1601 - gathered 300 supporters in a rebellion to attempt to capture the queen 

• Executed later in 1601 for treason 

Elizabeth and Parliament

• Elizabethan era parliament was very different to modern parliament. 

  • No Prime minister or political parties

  • All MPs (members of parliament) were men 

  • All MPs were voted in by wealthy landowners. 

  • Much less powerful than today’s parliament

  • Not at all representative of the entire English population 

• All parliament proceedings were tightly controlled by Elizabeth I. 

  • Parliament could only meet if called by the queen, and she set the agenda. 

  • They could only talk about what Elizabeth allowed them to discuss. 

  • Elizabeth mainly used parliament to grant her taxes, as this was her main income. 

  • Elizabeth could close parliament at any time without justification. 

  • Elizabeth made sure her Privy Councillors sat in with the parliament to help control proceedings, as well as reporting back to her what had been discussed. 

• Parliament only met 13 times during Elizabeth’s 45-year reign, for an average of 3 weeks per year. 

• The MPs came into conflict with Elizabeth over several key issues. 

Causes of conflict between Elizabeth and parliament

Divine Right of Kings

• Parliament proceedings were tightly controlled by the monarchy. 

• Elizabeth’s ministers were trusted advisors, but Elizabeth believed she had a divine right to rule. 

  • This belief in the ‘divine right of kings’ underscored Elizabeth’s control over Parliament; she alone was qualified to rule as she was ordained to do so by God. 

  • This meant she believed her ministers should be subservient to and assist her only.

• However, as time went on, MPs became much more confident in arguing against the queen. 

  • Over half of them had university educations, which were extremely hard to come by at the time.

  • Their role as minister was meant to give them certain privileges such as freedom from arrest. They likely expected that they would be able to challenge the queen, but she would cast out MPs who publicly disagreed with her.

• Elizabeth possessed a royal veto, which allowed her to control topics discussed in parliament. 

Marriage

• Many MPs felt that Elizabeth needed to name a suitor, marry and produce an heir to the English throne. 

• This was considered crucial to secure the line of succession, making it clear who would inherit the monarchy after Elizabeth I died. 

• Her response to parliament was that her marriage was her personal business. 

• She maintained that if she would marry, it would be when and if it was convenient and beneficial for her and the country.

• Elizabeth I never married, thus earning her the nickname ‘the Virgin Queen’.  

Religion

• Elizabeth I was a Protestant and re-instated the Church of England after Mary I had returned England to Catholicism. 

• Elizabeth wanted to avoid conflict over religious traditions unless it was absolutely necessary, and so offered a middle ground which allowed some Catholic worship and traditions as long as it wasn’t directly contradicting the country’s religious policies.

• Some Puritan MPs disagreed with this compromise and wanted Elizabeth to be more strict on stopping Catholic practices. They challenged Elizabeth by threatening to not grant her taxes. 

  • Puritan = a strict sect of Protestants who wanted to get rid of ritual services and were often strongly anti-Catholic, viewing it as heresy. 

• Elizabeth said religion was a matter of state, not for parliament, and forbade them to discuss religion. 

  • This also led to debates about freedom of speech in parliament. 

  • In 1576, Puritan MP Peter Wentworth complained that MPs could not freely discuss what they liked. Elizabeth sent him to the Tower of London for a month as punishment for challenging her. 

Monopolies 

• “Monopolies” were licences that gave individual nobles and merchants the sole right to manufacture or sell specific items, sort of like a modern patent.

• Elizabeth intended for monopolies to promote business and boost the economy. 

• However, as it meant that one person controlled the supply of a particular product, it meant that prices rose. 

• Elizabeth also made money by selling monopoly licences. 

• Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign, some MPs felt monopolies were unfair and the system was being abused. 

  • They protested against them in 1597-8 and 1601, saying they would not grant taxes until they had been withdrawn. 

  • At this stage, Elizabeth compromised and withdrew some monopolies. 

• She also made a long speech flattering parliament, known as her ‘Golden Speech’.