Background and Character

Question 1

Describe Mary’s birth

Answer 1

• Catherine of Aragon
• Series of miscarriages, stillbirths and infant deaths
• the last time England had a female heir was Matilda (Henry I)- her male cousin took the throne, causing the Wars of the Roses (still in living memory)

Question 2

Describe the journey to marriage with Anne Boleyn

Answer 2

• young and manipulative lady of the court
• she fell pregnant, Henry broke with Rome
• 7th September 1533, Palace of Greenwich- Elizabeth (after 2 grandmothers)
• Act of Succession made her heir and Mary illegitimate

Question 3

Describe Henry VII

Answer 3

• born June 1491
• younger son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
• 1502- Arthur dies, he comes heir
• 1509- king aged 17. Popular, handsome and intellectual
• 1530s- broke with Rome, dissolved monasteries
• relies of chief advisors (Wolsey, Cromwell)
• went to war repeatedly with France and Scotland
• executed 72,000 people- lots of close friends and relatives (Thomas Moore, Thomas Cromwell, Margaret Countess of Salisbury)
• January 1547 - died aged 55

Question 4

Name the wives of Henry VIII

Answer 4

1) Catherine of Aragon
2) Anne Boleyn
3) Jane Seymour
4) Anne of Cleves
5) Catherine Howard
6) Catherine Parr

Question 5

Describe Anne Boleyn

Answer 5

• born 1501
• parents: Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard - related to English nobility
• lady in waiting at the court of Catherine of Aragon
• spent much of her youth in France
• Lutheran sympathies, very well educated
• mid-1520s- liaison with Henry
• refused to be his mistress
• charismatic, ambitious, arrogant, manipulative
• married for 3 years
• accuses of adultery, treason and witchcraft
• May 1536- executed

Question 6

Describe Elizabeth in her youth

Answer 6

• no memory of her mother
• Second Act of Succesion declares her illegitimate - exiled from court
• late 1530s- early 1540s - many yorkist cousins killed by Henry
• lived at various royal residences (Hatfield, Hertfordshire)
• Kat Ashley - governess
• shared tutors for her broski
• Cambridge scholar Roger Ascham replaced William Grindal when he died of plague
• taught italic writing
• by 14: fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, could read Greek. Good at history, enjoyed writing poetry. Accomplished horsewoman and dancer, skilled at needlework
• Protestant reformer Catherine Parr acted as mother figure during teenage years
• 1544- Third Act of Succession restored her as an heir after Edward and Mary- not legitimate tho

Question 7

Describe Edward VI

Answer 7

• born October 1537. Mother died within days of his birth
• king at 9
• country ruled by uncle, Duke of Somerset, as Lord Protector until his fall from power and execution
• Duke of Northumberland became his chief minister
• Strict Protestant- introduced English prayer book and destroyed images and stained glass windows in churches
• inflation, poverty grew
• 1549 rebellions
• Lady Jane Grey declared heir
• July 1553- died of tuberculosis aged 15

Question 8

Describe Elizabeth’s first scandal

Answer 8

• Thomas Seymour (younger brother of Duke of Somerset) married Catherine Parr after Henry’s death
• flirtation
• scandal saying he was planning to overthrow Edward and marry Elizabeth
• 1549- executed for treason

Question 9

Describe Mary I

Answer 9

• born February 1516
• 1533- made illegitimate after annulment of parents’ marriage
• 1543- restored succesion
• July 1533- became queen aged 37
• married cousin, Philip of Spain. No ychildren
• 1554- Wyatt’s rebellion
• Catholic- restored authority of Pope
• 282 Protestants burnt at stake
• massive inflation, two harvest failures and epidemics of disease
• England and Spain went to war against France. 1588- England lost Calais
• November 1558- died aged 42

Question 10

Describe Mary and Elizabeth’s relationship

Answer 10

• feigned unity when they ride into London after defeat of Lady Jane Grey
• Elizabeth was heir
• hated Anne Boleyn and therefore Elizabeth
• suspected Elizabeth of involvement in Wyatt’s rebellion
• Wyatt claimed she approved under torture but retracted his statement before execution
• imprisoned in tower for 2 months
• kept under house arrest at Woodstock (Oxfordshire) and then Hatfield

Question 11

Describe Elizabeth’s succession

Answer 11

• given coronation ring
• ‘this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes!’
• consulted her astrologer Dr John Dee, set date for coronation (15th January 1559)