BC Elizabethan England c1568–1603 Flashcards
Elizabeths family
mom - Anne Boleyn who was executed
dad - Henry 8th
sister - Mary 1st
brother - Edward
Elizabeths backround
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
what was court life like?
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.
what is patronage
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
lord lieutenants
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
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE
several in every county
responsible for maintaining order and enforcing law
parliment
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
privy council
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
most important privy council members
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
problems Elizabeth faced
succession
foreign policy
mary queen of scots
religion
taxation
ireland
problems Elizabeth faced: succession
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
problems Elizabeth faced: Religion
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
pros for elizabeth marrying
create allience with foreign country or guarentee the loyalty of a powerful english family
produce an heir to continue the tudor line
cons for elizabeth marrying
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
relations with parliment
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
essexs rebellion
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
what was the rise of the gentry
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
what were the male fasions of elizabethan england
doublet (long sleeved shirt with ruffles at the end)
silk stockings
trunkhose
jerkin (colourful velvet jacket)
ruff (strip around neck)
cloak
sword
beard
what were the female fasions of elizabethan england
farthingale (petticoat)
ruff (strip around neck)
undergown
gown
over gown
dyed hair with wig
heavy white makeup
black teeth
small hat
what were the architecture trends of elizabethan england
heavily influenced by italien renaissance
symetry
lots of chimneys
lots of leaded glass in large mullioned windows
long gallery in uppper floor
what were the attitudes towards theatre
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
achivements of theatre
during her reign, the first theatre opened and in total 7 major theatres in london were opened by the time she died
what was the golden age
art
peace, power, pride
science + technology
education
literature
buildings
theatre
exploration
why was there an increase in poverty during elizabeths reign
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
attitudes towards poor
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
responses to the poor
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
what was the 1601 poor law
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
