BC Elizabethan England c1568–1603

Question 1

Elizabeths family

Answer 1

mom - Anne Boleyn who was executed
dad - Henry 8th
sister - Mary 1st
brother - Edward

Question 2

Elizabeths backround

Answer 2

she was the middle child and the most unlikely to reach the throne so was not taught how to be a queen. She was educated and brought up in the royal household and learned quickly that the court could be a dangerous place if she was not careful with what she did, said and who she trusted

her mother was executed when she was 2.5 years old

she was very clever and shared some tutors employed to teach her brother

she had a very difficult childhood

Question 3

what was court life like?

Answer 3

the royal court and government were different.
the court was made up of all the officials, servants and advisors (including privy council) that surrounded the monarch

the court was the center of power and also the source of latest trends and fasion.

Question 4

what is patronage

Answer 4

patronage was a way that elizabeth could ensure loyalty from courtiers

she could award monopolies, titles, land and other powerful position in exchange for obedience and support

Question 5

lord lieutenants

Answer 5

appointed by the queen
responsible for running a particular area of the country
responsible for raising a military to fight if needed
many also served on the privy council

Question 6

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE

Answer 6

several in every county
responsible for maintaining order and enforcing law

Question 7

parliment

Answer 7

made up of the house of lords and the house of commons
had influence over tax and was responsible for passing laws
the queen could choose when to call parliment and whether or not to listen to them

Question 8

privy council

Answer 8

responsible for day to day running of the country
queen chose members
if the council was united on an idea it was very difficult for the queen to ignore them however queen picked opposites to avoid this
led by secretary of state

Question 9

most important privy council members

Answer 9

william cecil - he wanted to avoid war and was elizabeths most trusted advisor

francis walsingham - spy master

christopher hatton - helped to organise progresses and was incharge of judges and law courts

Robert Dudley - he was personally responsible for Elizabeths safety

Question 10

problems Elizabeth faced

Answer 10

succession

foreign policy

mary queen of scots

religion

taxation

ireland

Question 11

problems Elizabeth faced: succession

Answer 11

she was the last child of Henry 8th and had no children of herself so the next heir was uncertain

because of this she was encouraged to marry and have children as soon as possible

Question 12

problems Elizabeth faced: Religion

Answer 12

recently there had been multiple changes of religion in england which had caused instability and violence

many catholics did not believe that Elizabeth should be queen as she was illagitamat

puritans were also a threat as they would break the balance between catholics and protestants

Question 13

pros for elizabeth marrying

Answer 13

create allience with foreign country or guarentee the loyalty of a powerful english family

produce an heir to continue the tudor line

Question 14

cons for elizabeth marrying

Answer 14

loss of authority to a foreign leader or englishman, by not marrying elizabeth and england kept independance

giving birth was very dangerous

her past experience of marriage had been very bad with her father

elizabeth could use proposition of marrige as an incentive when talking to foreign leaders

Question 15

relations with parliment

Answer 15

parliment saw it as their job to find a husband for elizabeth, who disagreed, and banned parliment from talking about the matter

elizabeth banned them from having freedom of speech

majority of parliment were protestants which agreed with elizabeth however there were some puritans who tried to pass laws

parliment recognised that the way to fix the poor situtation was to help them not punish them however elizabeth did not realise this until much later

overall elizabeth tightly controlled parliment and only really used them to gather taxes

she only called them 13 times in 45 years

Question 16

essexs rebellion

Answer 16

after his victory against spain he got into an argument with elizabeth and he was placed under house arrest for being disrespectful

later the queen sent him to ireland to deal with a rebellion where he failed to defeat the rebels and also went against the queens orders and made a truce

he then returned to england and stormed into the queens bedroom where she wasn’t wearing her proper clothes

he lost his sweet wine monopoly which made him angry and as he had nothing left to lose, he started to plot a rebellion

in feb 1601 he took 4 privy councellors hostage and marched to london house with 200 supporters

robert cecil, essexs rival, labled him a traitor and so his supporters left releasing the hostage. essex was then was arrested and sentenced to death.

this shows how even late in her reign elizabeth would not tolerate any challenges to her authority

Question 17

what was the rise of the gentry

Answer 17

before elizabeth, all of the wealth was held by the nobility. the stability that elizabeths period brought meant that people could make money from trade. the gentry grew as a result and began to fill powerful positions

elizabeth also did not like the old nobles so she did not give them any power which created a power vacuum allowing the gentry to gain power

henry 8th dissolved all monosteries which meant there was loads of land to buy

Question 18

what were the male fasions of elizabethan england

Answer 18

doublet (long sleeved shirt with ruffles at the end)
silk stockings
trunkhose
jerkin (colourful velvet jacket)
ruff (strip around neck)
cloak
sword
beard

Question 19

what were the female fasions of elizabethan england

Answer 19

farthingale (petticoat)
ruff (strip around neck)
undergown
gown
over gown
dyed hair with wig
heavy white makeup
black teeth
small hat

Question 20

what were the architecture trends of elizabethan england

Answer 20

heavily influenced by italien renaissance

symetry
lots of chimneys
lots of leaded glass in large mullioned windows
long gallery in uppper floor

Question 21

what were the attitudes towards theatre

Answer 21

at the start of her reign, there were no theatres and the government did not like actors so passed a law in 1572 saying that all actors had to be licensed which made the actors organise and 4 years later the first theatre opened.

the theatre became very popular and there was room for everyone as poor people went in the pit and richer people were in the stands

there was a cheap activity for the poor and an oppertunity for the rich to show their culture

Question 22

achivements of theatre

Answer 22

during her reign, the first theatre opened and in total 7 major theatres in london were opened by the time she died

Question 23

what was the golden age

Answer 23

art
peace, power, pride
science + technology
education
literature
buildings
theatre
exploration

Question 24

why was there an increase in poverty during elizabeths reign

Answer 24

flu outbreak - killed many people including farm workers
population increase - grew from 2.8-4m which made landlords increase rent as more demand
farming - several bad harvests, farmers started to farm sheep for wool instead as it was better paying
actions of previous monachs - henry 8th dissolved monosteries which left many people without work as well as shutting down a place for the poor to go

Question 25

attitudes towards poor

Answer 25

they were split into 2 groups - deserving and undeserving poor

deserving poor were the poor people who it wasn’t their fault (young children, disabled) and so they got help from the government

undeserving poor were poor people who were dishonest or beggers, they were fit but too lazy to find work. these people were punished if caught. (hung if caught 3x)
these poor would pretend to be sick or injured in order to try and gain sympathy

Question 26

responses to the poor

Answer 26

local councils tried to help by experimenting with collecting alms and setting up workhouses to provide work

elizabeth did not want to admit that poverty was a national problem so was reluctant to do anything with small laws (not doing much) being passed in the 1560s-70s, until 1601 where the act of relief of the poor being passed

Question 27

what was the 1601 poor law

Answer 27

each parish has a compulsory poor rate which provided materials, work or aprenticeships, relief for the deserving poor, an ensure that parents and children looked after each other

Question 28

Francis Drake

Answer 28

puritan (hated catholics)
anti-spanish
circumnavigated the globe
stole many spanish goods in raids
was crucial in defeating the armada in 1587

Question 29

john hawkins

Answer 29

african slave trader - 3 expeditions in 1560s selling to central america in the slave triangle between england, africa and america
developed better fighting galleons which helped england beat spain

Question 30

circumnavigation of the globe

Answer 30

1577-80
december 1577 - takes 5 ships to raid spanish ports in the americas
september 1578 - sails through the straits of magellen (first englishman to do so) loses 2 ships
remaining ships sail up west coast of americas raiding spanish ports
june 1579 - with only his ship remaining, drake lands in north america claiming it for queen elizabeth
march-june 1580 - navigates cape of good hope around south africa
september 1580 - returns to plymouth and knighted

Question 31

walter raleigh

Answer 31

made multiple explorations into americas
tried to colonise the americas however was unsuccessful as the attemps didn’t last as the first time they returned due to lack of food and the second time they vanished without a trace

Question 32

impact of voyages

Answer 32

englishmen were allowed to raid spanish ports and ships making money
established trading systems such as with the east (asia) (turkey) (middle east) and in africa with slaves enables things to be produced more cheaply
john hawkins also helped design the better english ships as he was attacked inspiring him. these ships allowed england to beat the spanish armada in 1587
england formed colonies

Question 33

catholic beliefs

Answer 33

pope is head of church
church and bible in latin
priests should not marry
highly decorated churches
bread and wine transform into jesus
priests are ordinary people who link with God

Question 34

protestant beliefs

Answer 34

monarch is the head of the church
bible and church in english
priests can marry
plain churches
bread and body only represent jesus
ordinary people connect with God through prayer

Question 35

northern rebellion

Answer 35

2 nobles rebelled after the duke of norfolk was not allowed to marry mary. earl of westmorland and northumberland took control of Durham cathedral and held an illigal catholic mass. they then marched south with 4600 men but the rebels disbanded when loyal earl of sussex raised an army against them
1569

Question 36

elizabeths excommunication

Answer 36

pope issed a special message (papel bull) saying elizabeth was not the true queen and called english people to not obey her laws. he also excommunicated elizabeth (telling people to not listen to her).

the pope was hoping for a rebellion however it didn’t happen

Question 37

ridolfi plot

Answer 37

1571
involved italien ridolfi and duke of norfolk again. there would be a rebellion that coincided with an invasion of foreign catholics from netherlands. elizabeth would be murdered and mary would replace her and marry duke of norfolk. this plot was discovered and stopped.

Question 38

throckmorten plots

Answer 38

led by francis throckmorten and the plan was to assasinate elizabeth and replace her with mary. there would be an uprising of english catholics with a foreign invasion from france.
when the plot failed throckmorten was killed

Question 39

missionaries

Answer 39

newly trained catholic priests (jesuits) were sent to england (normally from france and spain) to convert the protestants to catholic

Question 39

puritanism

Answer 39

they were very strict protestants who wanted to remove all catholic elements from english church

they studied the bible, wanted plain clothing and simple services

Question 39

jesuit

Answer 39

a person who is a specific type of catholic and priests

Question 40

Elizabeths response to catholic threats

Answer 40

1571 - rescueancy fines for catholics who did not take part in protestant services

1581 - increased rescueancy fines to $20 which made it impossible for people to just pay the fine. also became high treason to convert to catholic

1585 - any catholic priest who was made a priest after 1559 was considered a traitor and so faced death

1593 - catholics could not travel more than 5 miles from their house without permission from the authorites

Question 41

Elizabeths response to puritans

Answer 41

banned unlicesed preaching and forcing church attendance with recusancy fines

new high commision with the power to fine and imprision puritans who refused to follow the rules

punishments for printers who spread puritan messages

crack down on high profile puritans

Question 41

Elizabeths response to jesuit threat

Answer 41

elizabeth ordered Campion (a jesuit) to be arrested and tortured and killed

1585 - act against jesuits which called for them to be executed and driven out of england

Question 42

mary queen of scots backround

Answer 42

elizabeths cousin as her grandmother was henry 8th sister
catholic
become queen of scotland in 1542 at 8 days old
married to heir of the french throne 1558 and was briefly the queen of 2 countries
as elizabeth had no children mary was heir to the english throne and catholics believed she was the rightful queen
after her husbands death she returned to scotland which had become more protestant
1567 having been accused of the murder of her second husband, lord darnley, mary fled fled to england and her son james was made king of scotland.

Question 43

what threat did mary QOS pose

Answer 43

as she was catholic, many english protestants were worried that she might directly lead or inspire a rebellion against elizabeth
the idea of her as queen reminded the people of mary 1sts reign.

Question 44

babington plot

Answer 44

1586, a young rich catholic named anthony babington planned to kill elizabeth and rescue mary and make her queen
babington needed to know if mary supported his plan, so sent a coded message to mary via her servents. she replied backing it. walsingham however had set this method of communication with the servants, and so he read every letter sent and waited until there was sufficient evidance to have mary arrested to do something. this clear evidance meant that elizabeth had no choice and had to have mary killed

Question 45

mary QOS execution and impact

Answer 45

october 1586, mary was put on trial in court of 36 noblemen including walsingham and cecil.
mary defended herself very well
she was found guilty and sentenced to death on 25th october

elizabeth did not want to sign marys death warrant as she didn’t want to kill a fellow monarch and her cousin
she was also concerned about the reaction of catholic spain and france

she signed the death warrant on 1st of Feb 1587 after pressure from the privy government
mary was killed 7 days later

without mary the catholics had no clear alternative monarch so the plots stopped.
there was outrage from france and spain but no action
james king of scotland accepted elizabeths apology and was next in line to the english throne

Question 46

elizabeths treatment of mary

Answer 46

elizabeth was suspicious of mary as mary could easily raise a army to try and overthrow elizabeth and so she was kept under close guard and moved around england for 19 years

they never actually met however sent letters to communicate

Question 47

reason for conflict with spain

Answer 47

Papal bull - 1570 pope excommunicated Elizabeth and called for all catholics to challenge her rule and King Phillip was catholic

Religous difference - England was protestant whereas spain was catholic

Marrige - king phillip was married to Mary 1 and during this time he was joint monarch of England. In 1559 he also proposed to Elizabeth who rejected him and so tensions grew

Actions of sailors - Francis Drake and other english sailors spent years raiding spanish ships and ports and stealing treasures from spanish colonies. Elizabeth also encouraged this

Netherlands - Phillip also ruled netherlands and in 1566 there was a protestant uprising to which phillip sent troops however this led to greater resistance from rebels
although Elizabeth wanted to avoid war with spain, she agreed to send money to support the protestants as well as allowing volonteers to go and help fight. she also let rebel ships use english ports. this all angered phillip
in december 1585 elizabeth agreed to send english troops to support.

this turned to war as privy councellors called for military action, phillip did not like when mary QOS was killed and the netherlands help.

Question 48

events of spanish war

Answer 48

The spanish fleet ran into storms early so had to go back for repairs. Then when passing England on the way to the netherlands, English ships destoryed 3 spanish ships.
On the night of 7th August 1588, 8 old english ships were filled with tar and oil and set on fire. The ships then drifted to the spanish fleets. This caused panic and so the spanish crashed and ran aground. This attack successfully broke the tight formation allowing england to properly attack.
The next day, they engaged in battle (battle of Gravelines). England had the advantage as they had broken the spanish formation and spain also had to sail into the wind. England also had more manouvable ships. Spain were provoked into firing when they were out of range. Their guns were also hard to reload and took up lots of space on the boats. English ships were much better designed and so they easily sunk the spanish ships without losing a single ship.

The wind also played a huge part in england winning as the wind stopped spanish ships from meeting up with the rest of the fleet in the netherlands. This meant that the armada had to go all of the way around scotland and ireland causing many ships to wreck. There were also storms which further depleted spanish resources and destroyed more ships.

Question 49

tactics and technology used

Answer 49

the seas were dominated by england, spain and france

Henry 8th spent a fortune on building a huge navy to protect england. During Elizabeths reign, under the command of john hawkins, the navy continued to grow. at the same time Phillip was also trying to make his navy even larger.

english ships were much lighter, faster, more manouvable than the spanish fleet. England also kept their distance using light, long range guns to attack from a safe distance. Elizabeth picked Lord Howard to lead as well as having assistance from Francis Drake, John Hawkins and Martin Frobisher who were all very good. England only had 20,000 part time soldiers and 34 battle ships with approximately 160 other regular ships. she also did not know where spain would attack so had her troops split and spread out

The spanish ships used short range guns and grapple hooks to board enemy ships. Spain were hoping to sail up the english channel to meet the rest of their fleet in the Netherlands and then sail together and capture southern english ports. They would then land and march to london whilst english catholics would help and rebel. Phillip picked Duke of Medina because of his rank and this was a bad decision as he was not very good. Spain had loads of resources and 130 ships with 2500 guns and 30000 troops.

A new type of triangular sail (lateen) had been invented which allowed for much faster travel and new ships allowed for greater speed and manouverablilty. More powerful cannons had been invented as well making it possible to shoot at enemy ships from further away. Ships now were also built specifically for battle instead of simply travelling to the battle site. The astrolobe had been invented as well allowing for greater accuracy when planning voyages.

Question 50

defeat of the armada

Answer 50

spain were completely destroyed only making it back with 60 ships and 10,000 troops. For england national pride was boosted and victory was seen as a sign from God that protestantism was good. England also learnt the importance in guns in naval battles. The 2 countries continued to fight in the later years with several unsuccessful attacks from both sides. England continued to help rebellions in Netherlands + raid spanish ships and ports. King Phillip continued to stir up catholic trouble in England.