Challenges to Elizabeth at home and abroad, 1569–88 Flashcards

Question

Name examples of plots organised by Catholics against Elizabeth

Answer 1

- Throckmorton - Babington

Answer 2

- 1583 - the French Duke of Guise, a cousin of Mary, Queen of Scots, plotted to invade England & overthrow Elizabeth, free Mary & make England Catholic again - Philip II offered to help pay for the revolt & the Pope approved of the conspiracy. - Francis Throckmorton, a young Englishman, would pass letters between the plotters & Mary, Queen of Scots

Answer 3

- Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s Secretary of State, discovered the plot in May 1583 - in November 1583, Walsingham’s spies found papers at Throckmorton’s house that revealed his part in the conspiracy - Throckmorton was arrested and tortured; he confessed to his involvement & was executed in May 1584

Answer 4

1) revealed extent of threat posed by foreign Catholic powers, English Catholics & Mary, Queen of Scots 2a) Throckmorton’s papers included a list of Catholic sympathisers in England, confirming government’s fears of ‘enemy within’ 2b) showed potential threat from France & Spain; Elizabeth had to take care these Catholic powers did not unite against her 3a) government treated English Catholics with greater suspicion; many fled England after the plot; up to 11000 were imprisoned, or kept under surveillance or house arrest; an Act of Parliament of 1585 made helping or sheltering Catholic priests punishable with death

Answer 5

- the Duke of Guise would invade England, murder Elizabeth & put Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne - Philip II and the Pope supported the plot

Answer 6

Anthony Babington, a Catholic, wrote to Mary in July 1586 about the conspiracy

Answer 7

Sir Francis Walsingham intercepted & read Babington’s letters to Mary, which clearly demonstrated her awareness of, support for & involvement in the conspiracy

Answer 8

Babington & the plotters were sentenced to death & hanged, drawn and quartered

Answer 9

- in October 1586, Mary was sentenced to death for her part in the plot - Elizabeth delayed, but signed Mary’s death warrant in February 1587 - Mary was beheaded shortly afterwards

Answer 10

- Elizabeth’s situation was more precarious than with previous plots - by 1585, England & Spain were virtually at war - Elizabeth’s government became determined to crush the Catholic threat - the persecution of Catholics intensified; in 1585, 11,000 Catholics were imprisoned or placed under house arrest; thirty-one priests were executed across the country in 1586 - the plot led to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, ending any hope of replacing Elizabeth with a Catholic heir

Answer 11

the gallows were erected ‘mighty high’, to be visible to all to deter further plots

Answer 12

- Elizabeth’s Secretary of State - developed a network of spies & informers to uncover plots against Elizabeth

Answer 13

- Walsingham’s actions provided intelligence that defeated plots, such as the Throckmorton plot & Babington plot - his intelligence unmasked the activities of Mary, Queen of Scots; this put pressure on Elizabeth to execute her & led to Mary’s execution in early 1587 - his actions also deterred further plots against Elizabeth

Answer 14

- Walsingham had a network of spies & informants in every town - some of Walsingham’s agents were paid & trained by the government - others were paid informants; these were often people who knew or were likely to know potential plotters against the queen; they were sometimes Catholic priests, such as John Hart, who turned informant in return for a Royal Pardon. - Walsingham also used spies abroad; he had agents in France, Germany, Spain, Italy & North Africa

Answer 15

- Walsingham used ciphers (codes) for all correspondence; this meant that letters would be written in code & translated out of code once received - Walsingham also had the means of decoding (deciphering) the codes of those who plotted against Elizabeth; he hired specialists, such as Thomas Phelippes, to help him do this

Answer 16

- some priests were tortured, to deter others & force them to give up information; under Walsingham, 130 priests & 60 of their supporters were put to death - the threat of execution & torture was often more effective, as it would provide Walsingham with informants he could use against any plotters - Walsingham only used torture & execution in the most serious cases, as he did not want ordinary people to sympathise with plotters

Answer 17

- Walsingham employed ‘agents provocateurs’ to encourage those who were seen as a threat to Elizabeth to plot against her; this justified their arrest & execution - e.g. Walsingham used Gilbert Gifford to open communications between Mary & the Babington plotters; this encouraged Mary to involve herself in the plot, so leading to her execution

Answer 18

- Elizabeth I eventually signed Mary’s death warrant in February 1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed for a number of different reasons

Answer 19

- Mary had been involved in a series of plots against Elizabeth, such as the revolt of the Northern Earls, the Ridolfi plot, the Throckmorton plot & the Babington plot. - Walsingham’s spies had unearthed evidence that Mary was involved with the plotters; this led to her trial and conviction under the Act for Preservation of the Queen’s Safety - the Spanish threat was very real by 1587, with rumours of invasion; the fact that Philip II had been involved in previous plots involving Mary, such as the Ridolfi plot, heightened the threat that Mary posed & the reasons for getting rid of her - Mary remained a rallying point for disgruntled Catholics who saw her as a legitimate queen - the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, making Mary an alternative Catholic monarch who could take the throne by foreign invasion

Answer 20

- Mary was an anointed monarch, so executing her set a dangerous precedent; Elizabeth, in the wrong circumstances, could meet a similar fate; so the execution made Elizabeth & her heirs more vulnerable in the future - the execution further angered Spain & gave Philip II further reason to attack England, as Mary left her claim to the throne to Philip on her death - the execution made the succession even more uncertain, increasing the chances of a civil war on Elizabeth’s death - the execution removed an important threat to Elizabeth, as Mary had been the focus of many Catholic plots to depose Elizabeth

Answer 21

- 8 February 1587 - Fotheringhay Castle

Answer 22

by the 1580s, relations between England & Spain had reached the point of war

Answer 23

under Mary Tudor, Spain & England were allies; as a Protestant country under Elizabeth I, England’s relationship with Spain soured: - Philip II, backed by the Pope, saw Protestantism as a threat to the authority of the Catholic Church - many English Protestants saw Spain & Catholicism as a threat. - Philip II of Spain became involved in Catholic plots against Elizabeth

Answer 24

- the Netherlands had been Spanish since the 1400s, but many Dutch became Protestant - a brutal Spanish campaign under the Duke of Alba aimed to restore Catholicism there - Spanish Catholics executed many Dutch Protestants following the Council of Troubles (the ‘Council of Blood’) in 1568 - Spain’s campaign in the Netherlands angered many in Elizabeth’s government, who now saw Spain as hostile – a direct threat to English Protestantism & to England itself

Answer 25

Elizabeth’s government decided to secretly help Dutch Protestants resist the Spanish. - it allowed Dutch rebel ships (the Sea Beggars) safe passage in English ports - it provided financial support to others fighting the Spanish, including volunteers led by John Casimir, a foreign mercenary - English privateers, such as Sir Francis Drake, were encouraged to attack Spanish shipping & colonies in Latin America Elizabeth even proposed marriage to the French heir, the Duke of Alençon, so he might be persuaded to fight Spain in the Netherlands.

Answer 26

- by 1576, the Spanish government in the Netherlands found the war there unaffordable - a lack of funds meant Spanish troops went unpaid; this resulted in the Spanish Fury, when Spanish troops looted Antwerp - after the looting, all 17 Dutch provinces (Catholic and Protestant) joined an alliance against the Spanish, drawn up in a document called the Pacification of Ghent; it called for all Spanish troops to be expelled from the Netherlands

Answer 27

by late 1584: - Spanish control of the Netherlands had been restored under the Duke of Parma - England’s allies, the Duke of Alençon and William of Orange, were dead - the Treaty of Joinville (1584) united Catholic France & Spain against the Netherlands & England - Dutch Catholics were ready to make peace with Spain, strengthening Philip II’s position there

Answer 28

by 1587, England & Spain were close to war. - Philip II blamed English support of the Dutch rebels for making the situation worse - Philip II blamed English privateers for attacks on Spanish shipping - Elizabeth’s government blamed Spain for a series of plots against Elizabeth

Answer 29

- sailors on privately owned warships who attacked Spanish shipping - because the ships were privately owned, Elizabeth could deny responsibility for their actions

Answer 30

- England & Spain had a significant commercial rivalry by the 1570s - it involved trade & the New World, which was affected by English privateering

Answer 31

- by the 1570s, England & Spain had emerged as commercial (trade) rivals - both competed against each other for access to the markets & resources of the New World, as well as to markets in Turkey, Europe, Russia, China & North Africa - Spain had conquered Mexico & Peru in the early 1500s; this provided the Spanish with vast amounts of gold & silver, which were regularly shipped back to Spain; it also gave Spain control over the trade in sugar cane & tobacco - by Elizabeth's reign, Britain had emerged as a trade rival; sailors, including Sir Francis Drake, were journeying great distances on trading voyages to different parts of the world

Answer 32

Spain represented a major barrier to English trade because: - Spanish control of the Netherlands & the Scheldt & Rhine estuaries closed off one of the principal trade routes used by English traders in Europe; this reduced the incomes & profits of English merchants - Spain's control of the New World also denied English traders profit-making opportunities, because all trade there had to be licensed by the Spanish government Therefore, English traders' efforts to find ways of making money brought them into conflict with the Spanish government

Answer 33

- English merchants, financed by private investors, including Elizabeth, raided Spanish colonies as well as ships voyaging to & from the New World - in one raid alone, in 1572, Sir Francis Drake captured £40,000 in Spanish silver - a second expedition between 1577 & 1580, involving Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, resulted in the capture of a further £400,000 of silver & gold - Elizabeth also encouraged Dutch rebels, known as the Sea Beggars, to attack Spanish ships sailing between Spain & the Netherlands - by 1580, loss of silver meant that the Spanish government in the Netherlands was bankrupt & could not afford to pay its soldiers

Answer 34

by the early 1580s, the actions of Drake & other privateers had brought England & Spain to the brink of war - Elizabeth, by knighting Drake, demonstrated her defiance of & hostility towards Spain's commercial interests in Europe & the New World; her actions showed her support of the financial losses suffered by the Spanish government as a result of English privateering - for Philip II, Drake & other privateers were little more than pirates who needed to be removed by war if neccessary; so, by getting rid of Elizabeth & Drake by war was the only remaining means of protecting Spain's commercial interests

Answer 35

- by 1585, Elizabeth began to support the Dutch rebels directly by sending troops to the Netherlands under Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester - Francis Drake continued to attack Spanish shipping & raided the Spanish fleet at Cadiz

Answer 36

- England signed the Treaty of Nonsuch in August 1585 with the Dutch Protestant rebels; this made war with Spain more likely - by the terms of the treaty, England would pay for an army of 7,400 English soldiers, led by an English commander; Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; who would work with the rebels' government, the Council of State - it was likely that this group would fight the Spanish, although war had not been formally declared

Answer 37

the campaign was not a great success: - **Elizabeth still hoped to negotiate with Philip II.** England was not formally at war with Spain & so Leicester was not given enough resources to defeat the Spanish - **Some of Dudley's officers,** William Stanley & Robert York, **deflected to the Spanish side.** ; this damaged relations with the Dutch rebels - **Dudley & Elizabeth had different aims in the Netherlands.** Dudley wanted to end Spanish rule, making the Netherlands an independent country; Elizabeth wanted to go back to how the Netherlands had been governed in 1548 when it remained under Spanish control but with certain freedoms given to it

Answer 38

the campaign achieved very little: - Dudley could only disrupt Spanish forces in the Netherlands under the Duke of Parma; he could not defeat them - Dudley did manage to stop the Spanish from capturing a deep-water port, Ostend, on the English channel; this was important because it denied the Spanish Armada the chance to link up with the Duke of Parma's troops in 1588

Answer 39

- since January 1586, Spain had been gradually building up its Armada, Philip II's enormous invasion fleet that was due to help the Spanish army invade England - in March 1587, Elizabeth ordered Francis Drake to attack the Spanish navy; between the 19th & 22th April, he attacked Cadiz, a major Spanish naval port, destroying 30 ships & much of the fleet's supplies; this attack was called the 'singeing of the King of Spain's beard' - Drake then continued to attack Spanish coastal ports & treasure ships

Answer 40

- Spain had to take a break from building the Armada in order to defend itself against Drake - the disruption Drake caused did not stop the Armada, but it delayed it by a year - this bought England more time to prepare for the eventual Spanish attack & invasion in 1588

Answer 41

- religious conflict - politics & diplomacy - acts of provocation - changing circumstances

Answer 42

- Philip II, a devout Catholic, had already failed in plots to get rid of Elizabeth; the Armada & invasion gave him another opportunity to remove her & place a Catholic on the English throne - the papacy had wanted to overthrow Elizabeth since excommunicating her in 1570 - the Pope promised absolution (forgiveness of sins) to those taking part in the Armada

Answer 43

- the Treaty of Joinville (1584) meant Spain could attack England without risking war with France - the Treaty of Nonsuch (1585) meant English soldiers were at war with Spain, so Philip could justify attacking England - England would be a useful addition to Philip's empire, as it would give Spain complete control of the Atlantic

Answer 44

- Drake's acts in the New World threatened Spanish commercial interests - Elizabeth's support for the Dutch rebels challenged Spanish interests there

Answer 45

- Spain acquired Portugal in 1580, giving Philip II access to Portuguese ports & ships - the Duke of Parma's success in the Netherlands since 1579 meant Spain's position there was secure - Elizabeth's hesitation to fully back Dutch rebels was a sign of weakness & encouraged Philip II to attack

Answer 46

- Philip ordered the Armada (130 ships & 2431 guns) to sail along the English Channel to the Netherlands - from there, the ships would join forces with Spanish troops under the Duke of Parma & transport 27,000 troops to Kent - the Spanish army would then attack London, end Elizabeth's reign & establish a new Catholic government

Answer 47

- for the invasion to succeed, the Spanish needed control of the English Channel to transport Parma's troops to England - it was vital that the English Navy disrupt Spanish shipping, as the Spanish had a bigger & better army than the English & were likely to defeat them if they landed successfully in Kent

Answer 48

- if the Armada succeeded, Elizabeth could lose her throne & possibly her life - for English Protestants, including her privy councillors, a successful invasion meant the restoration of Catholicism in England & the persecution of Protestants - for many, the war with Spain was a life & death struggle to preserve their religion & their lives

Answer 49

1) 29th July: the Armada is spotted in the English Channel 2) 31st July: Battle of Plymouth; two Spanish ships are captured 3) 3-4 August: Battle of the Isle of Wight; Spanish ships are outgunned by the English & forced to move further up the channel towards Calais 4) 8th August: Battle of Gravelines; fireships cause the Spanish to panic; the Spanish fleet never links up with the Duke of Parma & is scattered

Answer 50

- communication problems - Spanish ships lacked supplies & provisions, including food, for a long voyage - English tactics were superior - English ships were better armed & equipped - the Spanish panicked - the weather

Answer 51

- there was no communication between the Duke of Parma & the Duke of Medina Sidonia - no deep-water ports; the Dutch rebels still possessed Ostend; this meant the Spanish Armada could not stop at any ports in the Spanish Netherlands, but had to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army at sea after it had embarked on a series of smaller ships; this made communications very difficult

Answer 52

- the Spanish fleet was at sea for 10 weeks & by early August & by early August the food had rotted - this damaged Spanish morale & their ability to fight the English

Answer 53

- the English got close enough to the Spanish ships to fire on them, but stayed far away enough to prevent Spanish sailors & soldiers from boarding; this destroyed & damaged a number of Spanish ships while ensuring that English losses were minimal - Drake's use of fireships at the Battle of Gravelines was also important as it caused the Spanish to panic

Answer 54

- in English ships, cannons were mounted on smaller gun carriages than on Spanish ships - this meant they could be reloaded & fired more quickly than the Spanish cannons - this damaged many Spanish ships & undermined their chances of linking up with the Duke of Parma & invading England

Answer 55

- the key turning point seems to have been the Battle of Gravelines, where the English used fireships - many Spanish captains panicked, cut their anchors & allowed their ships to drift into the North Sea

Answer 56

- gale force winds caused most of the destruction to the Spanish ships as they retreated home - many Spanish ships were destroyed off the west of Ireland

Answer 57

- English navy strengthened - Elizabeth's authority enhanced - foreign policy: stronger alliances in Europe - Protestant cause stronger in England

Answer 58

- the defeat of the Armada showed the strength of the English navy - this boosted English confidence to explore - it also encouraged English merchants to trade with Europe

Answer 59

- the queen took centre stage at a victory parade in London - Elizabeth was able to portray herself as a military victor - this is reflected in portraits during the later parts of her reign

Answer 60

- the Anglo Dutch alliance was strengthened - Protestantism in the Netherlands survived, strengthening the Protestant cause in Europe - this meant England had Protestant allies in Europe & was no longer isolated

Answer 61

- victory of the English 'underdog' suggested that God was on the Protestant side - a commemorative medal was struck that said "God blew and they were scattered" - this may have persuaded some Englishmen, who might have wavered between Protestantism & Catholicism, to accept Protestant rule

Answer 62

- the defeat of the Armada was a major military & financial setback for King Philip II of Spain - however, Spain's war with England continued for the rest of Elizabeth's reign - Spanish prestige was broken; other countries became more willing to challenge Spain's power; this led to the gradual decline of the Spanish Empire

Answer 63

shows Elizabeth I surrounded by symbols of power with the defeated Armada in the background