5.2 Elizabeth - Foreign Policy Flashcards
what is the state of English foreign policy when Elizabeth comes to power?
1558
Calais has been lost, MQS is Queen of France and there are several ongoing protestant wars
what is the background to the situation in Scotland?
- Marie de Guise, the French regent of Scotland, is deposed by Scottish lairds
- Elizabeth sends aid to the Scottish rebels, official intervention is seen through the 1560 treaty of Berwick
- the treaty of Edinburgh in the same year saw the French agree to withdraw from Scotland and accept the new monarchy under James Stuart
- initial foreign action massive success
what is the background to the situation in France?
- French wars of religion break out from 1562 to 1593
- Elizabeth’s ministers pressure for intervention
- 1562 treaty of hampton court sent loans and troops to help out Calais’ Huguenots
- it goes wrong and the Huguenots are defeated with French possession confirmed
- Elizabeth sees it as a disaster and returns to a cautious policy
what is the background to the situation in the Netherlands? (four main events)
ONE
- Philip’s chief minister in the Netherlands, cardinal Granvelle, uses the outbreak of the plague in London as an excuse to ban the import of all English cloth
- trade resumes the next year
TWO
- in 1566 the revolt of the Netherlands begins
- the Duke of Alva is sent to put it down
THREE
- 1568: the English ambassador is expelled from Madrid
- 1568: a new Spanish ambassador arrives in England, de Spes
- the first thing he does is make contact with MQS causing a massive buildup of tension
FOUR
- England seizes a silver fleet of bullion from Genoese lenders in the channel going to pay troops in the Netherlands
what is the background to the situation in the New World?
- Spain has an overwhelming grip on exploration
- in 1562 John Hawkins sailed to West Africa where he bought slaves and sold them in the New World
- he repeated this in 1564 with this voyage ending hopes of peaceful trade with the Spanish Empire
- Spain attacked Hawkins’ fleet in Mexico in 1568 that caused open hostility between the two countries
- Hawkins retired and was put in charge of the naval board which led to the production of the fast, manouverable ships in the Armada
what did Thomas Coresham do?
- organised local militia and muster (training exercises) for ordinary people
1568-1572: what were the six main events during this period?
- victory for Alva’s army in the Netherlands
- trade embargo
- attack at San Juan
- Spain backs Ridolfi
- Cecil takes Spanish bullion
- the expulsion of the sea beggars
1568-1572: what occurred in the Netherlands?
- Alva was sent by Philip to suppress revolt
- this threatened English security and made England an easy target for invasion from the Netherlands
- by 1568 Alva had defeated the rebels
- Elizabeth didn’t have the means to directly challenge Spain, they were too powerful, so she embarked on a policy of harassment by sending seamen to make their lives difficult
1568-1572: why was there a trade embargo?
Spain’s reaction to the confiscation of their Genoese loan that Cecil had stolen caused a total trade embargo between Spain and England
1568-1572: what happened at San Juan?
the Spanish attacked Hawkins in 1568 in Mexico
1568-1572: how did England and Spain annoy each other
- from 1568 to 1572 England and Spain wanted to cause trouble for each other without a war
- Spain supported the 1571 Ridolfi plot
- Elizabeth did not try to stop English seamen. from attacking Spanish ships
- she actively pursued a marriage alliance with the Duke of Anjou after rejecting Philip
- in 1572 the treaty of Blois was signed that saw England and France promise to aid each other if needed
1568-1572: why was the expulsion of the sea beggars significant
- 1572 Elizabeth decided to expel the sea beggars who were sheltering in English ports from the Spanish
- this meant they took the deep water port of Brill which was later significant in the Armada
what was the general vibe of the period 1572 to 1584 in Elizabeth’s foreign policy?
- a time when was not inevitable, it was a detente period of diplomatic action on both sides
- Elizabeth tried to control English piracy and Philip expelled the English Douai priests in Flanders
- however the effort for peace was ultimately ruined by the Netherlands
- she wanted the Netherlands to be granted their traditional liberties but remain under loose Spanish control, the spanish army and inquisition should be removed
- but she was not at all in a position to be seeking war
what happened in 1572?
- year of St Bartholomew’s massacre
- Elizabeth allows Huguenots to use England as a base and allows munition and loans to be sent by English protestants
- volunteers are allowed to join the sea beggars
- an army of volunteers is sent to hold Flushing for the Dutch to protect from the French army in the Netherlands
what happened in 1573?
- Elizabeth continues to unofficially aid Dutch rebels by allowing English privateers to close the channel to Spanish ships
- this is a big hassle for them
what happened in 1574?
- the convention of Bristol
- this settles the bullion dispute, lifts the trade embargo, banishes English rebels from the Netherlands and allows English merchants in the Netherlands to practice their Protestant belief
what happened in 1576?
- the Spanish Fury: the mutiny of the Spanish army results in the sack of Antwerp
- this unites all 17 Dutch provinces in open rebellions against the Spanish
- the Pacification of Ghent: the Dutch estates general calls for the expulsion of all foreign troops and the restoration of traditional liberties
- Elizabeth loans the Dutch estates general £100,000
what happened in 1577?
- Don Juan of Austria arrives with a new Spanish army and begins the reqconquest of the Netherlands
- thousands of English volunteers head to the Netherlands
- Elizabeth tells Philip to accept the pacification of ghent and recall Don Juan of which he does neither
- sends a mercenary force under John Casimir
- authorises what ends up being Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe
what happened in 1578?
- ## the threat grows in the Netherlands when the Duke of Alencon signs an alliance with the Dutch and intervenes in the Netherlands
what happened in 1579?
- a new Spanish commander, the Duke of Parma, makes considerable headway in the Netherlands
- Alencon withdraws his forces
- Elizabeth still cannot bring England to openly intervene
what happened in 1580?
- Philip gains Portugal, giving him all their New World land that is the most substantial after Spain’s itself and navy that is nearly the size of England’s
- Elizabeth sends Alencon £100,000 to revive his Netherlands campaign
what happened in 1582?
- after revolt in Scotland Elizabeth establishes an understanding with James VI based on common religion
- the treaty of Berwick agrees to end hostilities between the two