C19: Elizabethan Government, 1563-1603

Question 1

why was the royal court important to the elizabethan decision making process

Answer 1

here, Elizabeth could seek advice on an individual basis.

Question 2

Describe the nature of the court

Answer 2

Two main areas:
- Presence chamber = a relatively open area to which anyone with the right status/connections could access
- Privy Chamber = more private and more important - but less influential than under the Tudor kings, as the gentlemen of the privy chamber no longer had the access rights to the monarch that they’d previously enjoyed. Admission to the privy chamber was carefully guarded.
- the operation of the court came under the jurisdiction of the lord chamberlain (who was always a noble)
- the ceremonial aspects of courtly life became much more important as the reign progressed

Question 3

What did Christopher Haigh say about the court

Answer 3

Increasingly, Elizabeth turned her politicians (eg Cecil) into courtiers, and her courtiers (eg the Earl of Leicester) into politicians

Question 4

describe the privy council

Answer 4

the main formal body in which the queen’s principal ministers came together, responsible for policy advice and administration.
It met regularly, with most meeting attracting an attendance of around 10. Elizabeth usually consulted with ministers on an individual level

Question 5

Describe the 10 key functions of the privy council

Answer 5

• to adjudicate partly as a court of law when sitting as the star chamber, and partly when sitting as a Board when dealign with issues such as maladministration
• John Guy claims it had to manage parliament - but it can be debated whether this was a function of the council as a whole, or rather, individual councillors. often, clashes in Elizabeth’s parliaments were reflections of the tensions that arose between Elizabeth and her privy council, especially when the latter was supposedly encroaching on her royal prerogative
• to discuss matters of state and offer policy advice arising from those discussions to the queen
• to manage crown finances with the lord treasurer and councillor of the exchequer
• to oversee the operation of/recieve appeals from regional councils
• to administer the realm by instructing a range of officials like lords/liuetenants/jps ect. increasingly during Elizabeth’s reign. councillors involved themselves in the details of local administration and built networks of influence within the counties.
• councillors had considerable influence on the appointment of JPS ( the linchpins of local administration) in the individual shires
• to enforce a range of laws and regulations regarding issues such as law and order, vagrancy, prices and wages
• to oversee arrangements for national defence by supervising the operation of trained bands in individual; counties and serving as lord’s lieutenant with militia responsibilities in individual counties
• to enforce the religious settlement of 1559, by requiring justices of the peace to investigate compliance in individual counties eg by overseeing the law against catholics

Question 6

Describe William Cecil’s role

Answer 6

• established as Elizabeth’s key minister at the beginning of the reign and he came to dominate the council. he’d anticipated his rise to power even before Mary’s death, and so only a month after the Spanish ambassador described him as the man who does everything - he was joined in the council by a number of close associates eg Nicholas bacon, Francis Russell earl of Bedford

Question 7

describe the religious divides within the council

Answer 7

• the council also contained some ministers with more conservative views: eg Thomas Howard earl of Norfolk, the marquis of Winchester, and the ears of Sussex and Shrewsbury - however, their offices kept them away from court and meant that they had less power and influence
• some reshaping of the privy council took place in the 1570s - the influence of the traditional; conservative aristocracy was reduced with the downfall of norflox and death of lord treasurer Winchester
• 1570s: a nucleus of firmly protestant councillors was appointed: eg Wlasingham and Mildmay.
• however, their advancement was balanced by the advancement of more firmly conservative forces, eg sir Christopher Hatton
• John Guy claims these changes resulted in an inner ring of 8 councillors, some of which were militant protestants. the only relatively conservative figures were Sussex and Hatton

Question 8

describe the council’s overall efficacy

Answer 8

• despite changes in personnel, the crown offered decisive decision making - there were disputes over foreign policy and a breakdown in relations between E and her councillors brought about by the execution of MQS in 1587, but overall elizabethan ministers served their queen well

Question 9

describe how the privy council became weaker after the 1580s

Answer 9

• a number of ministers died in quick succession to each other. Dudley’s death in September 1558 was a personal blow. Elizabeth also lost other relatively able ministers, so by 1597, the privy council only had around 11 members
• Elizabeth made matters worse by failing to make immediate replacements - when she did, she often tended to rely on the middle aged sons of former councillors who often lacked their father’s skills
• absence of senior nobility on the council: Hammer argues that this mattered, as it suggested her council no longer included the country’s most powerful families
• she refused to allow Burghley to retire, although his effectiveness diminishes during the 1590s. He appointed his son, Robert Cecil, to the P.C: he had to undertake a massive administrative burden on account of his father’s ill health.
• the promotion of the younger Robert Cecil angered the earl of Essex

Question 10

describe how Elizabeth managed factional rivalry in the early stages of her reign

Answer 10

• the structure of elizabethan government initially prevented factional rivalry from getting out of hand: no one minister had complete control over patronage, n to even Cecil, and the various influential families balanced themselves out: both Boleyns and Parrs featured strongly in senior ranks of crown service, therefore showing that family connections could overcome religious differences
• although Cecil and Dudley disagreed, they could cooperate

Question 11

describe how Elizabeth’s control over factional rivalry began to deteriorate in 1590s onwards

Answer 11

• fierce clashes between Cecil and Essex made governance difficult
• these problems came to a head in the 1601 Essex rebellion: Essex’s issues were a loss of influence due to the favouritism of Robert Cecil over him, and his loss of his monopoly over sweet wines
• Essex planned an armed coup to take down Cecil: but Cecil was well prepared, and Essex was finally forced to surrender and was executed on 1601.
• although Essex was just an incompetent political figure who lacked judgement, he reflected a larger discontent with E+C’s rule, and e’s demising authority

Question 12

describe the importance of parliament under Elizabeth

Answer 12

• less important under Elizabeth
• she regarded it as necessary but annoying, yet she had to put up oath it for the tasks of law-making, granting taxation and giving advice
• therefore whilst it was occasionally important for legislative purposes/revenue raising, it was largely a secondary feature of th elizabethan political system.

Question 13

describe parliament’s lawmaking function under Elizabeth

Answer 13

• altogether 438 acts were passed by parliament - the most important were related to religion (acts of supremacy and uniformity on 1559, and the penal laws against catholics) and social policy (acts of 1597/1601 addressing poor relief)
• the 1559 parliaments in relation to religion - the settlements were pushed through due to the efforts of strongly protestant councillors like Cecil int he face of large conservative opposition in the House of Lords

Question 14

Describe parliament’s function under Elizabeth

Answer 14

• Elizabeth saw this as the most important feature. 11/13 parliamentary sessions involved her asking for revenue
• the distinction between extraordinary/extraordinary revenue had been lost during the reign of HVIII and desire her attempts to economise, Elizabeth was frequently forced to resort to levying ‘extraordinary revenue’ to pay for the crown’s normal; expenditure, because the level of her ordinary revenue had fallen in real terms
• however, persistent failure to reform the system of direct taxation meant the yield of extraordinary revenue through the subsidy declined in real terms

Question 15

Describe parliament’s function for giving advice under Elizabeth

Answer 15

• most of the time, Elizabeth was uninterested in listening to the advice of MPS - and she became particularly irritated when MPs ventured into areas that she considered to fall within the royal prerogative
• on the other hand ,meetings of parliament gave useful opportunities to gauge opinion amongst members of the political nation - therefore parliament served as a useful means of communication and a clear point of contact between councillors and those who administered the localities on their beholds
• eg parliamentary session in the 1660s - a large number of MPs urged her to marry despite infringing the royal prerogative by doing so. in 1566, Elizabeth prevented the passage of bills for further religious reform which were favoured by Cecil and many bishops.
• Peter Wentworth was imprisoned twice for infringing the royal prerogative by raising the issue of succession/religious reform

Question 16

what did John Neale say about elizabethan parliament?

Answer 16

contended that there was an emergence of oppositionist elements in parliament in Elizabeth’s reign - a puritan choir of 40Mps who challenged elizabethan religious legislation, however this was debunked

Question 17

describe patronage in parliament

Answer 17

• borough seats were created as a result of the influence of aristocrats who were badgered by local gentry to create them so that they could have status.those seats therefore enabled the crown to oblige its aristocratic servants who were then able to reward loyal gentry in return - therefore patronage was much more indirect under Elizabeth

Question 18

describe how Cecil managed parliament

Answer 18

• Cecil played an important role in preparing the crown’s legislative programme, ‘framing’ and ‘shaping’ bills. in this, he as assisted by the crown’s floor managers in the HoC - first Knollys, then Hatton. He also used his own men of business e.g lawyers and experts on parliamentary procedure to help him manage the HoC by promoting measures which Cecil considered important
• Privy councillors often began parliamentary sessions by setting the tone and outlining the crown’s pripirtoes - they also frequently introduced bills, and sat on the committees which gave detailed consideration to the content of parliamentary bills
• as John Guy described, ‘;legislative business was properly directed’

Question 19

Describe times when Elizabeth wasn’t able to manage parliament

Answer 19

• outbursts in 1563/66 when the HoC attempted to debate marriage/succession, and intervened to stop the passage of bills she disapproved of, refusing 60 altogether.
• by 1593, the traditional methods f managing parliament appeared to be less successful, largely due to differences in how to deal with religion
• the crown, urged by archbishop Whitgift sought the passing of a punitive act against sectaries despite the fact it was openly opposed by MPs like sir Walter Raleigh with close links to the crown - the queen barred the political advancement,ent of one of Burghley’s associates who spoke out
  in 1593, the imprisonment of Peter Wentworth showed how her anger had increased
• the relationship between E+P completely broke down at the end of her reign over the issue of monopolies in 1601
• this debate was an occasion when the crown’s officers lost control of the HoC - not helped by Robert Cecil, who lacked skill in his parliamentary management and had less resources than his father