Chapter 18 - The impact of economic, social and religious developments in the early years of elizabeth's rule

Question 1

why was the english economy in a bad state when elizabeth came to the throne?

Answer 1

the combination of bad harvests, high mortality rates, high taxation and, for many people, a significant cut in real wages meant there was considerable fear about social instability

Question 2

why was the central government left with rather ineffective measures for dealing with the economic and social problems?

Answer 2

• the legislation which had been proposed was not passed into law
• this meant the government could either issue instructions to JPs or issue royal proclamations

Question 3

what were royal proclamations often an admission of?

Answer 3

an admission of government impotence

Question 4

what did the statute of artificers in 1563 do?

Answer 4

• compulsory labour, especially at harvest time
• a minimum period of one year for the hire of workmen during which they could not leave their masters or be dismissed without good cause
• a prohibition on anyone following a craft unless they had served a seven-year apprenticeship
• the setting of maximum wage rates by JPs in every county

Question 5

what did the statute of artificers try to sort out?

Answer 5

it was a national attempt to sort out the problems with wage rates, people at the time thought they were too high, although we now know that real wages were falling

Question 6

who were the deserving poor?

Answer 6

those who were actively seeking work or were too old, too young or too ill to do so

Question 7

who were the undeserving poor?

Answer 7

those whom society considered to be beggars or vagrants

Question 8

what were the number of causes of the increase in poverty?

Answer 8

• the increase in population meant real wages were lower than they had been a century earlier
• harvest failures created food shortages

Question 9

what social problem was cecil particularly concerned about?

Answer 9

the large numbers of homeless and unemployed people could present a serious threat to law and order

Question 10

how did contemporaries treat the deserving and undeserving poor differently?

Answer 10

• the deserving poor were deemed to be entitled to some form of limited assistance to alleviate their condition
• the undeserving poor were to be punished

Question 11

why were alternative forms of poor relief now necessary?

Answer 11

before the reformation the church had provided most of it

Question 12

what efforts were made to deal with poor relief before the 1570s?

Answer 12

• an ineffective act was passed in 1563, but its impact was haphazard
• national legislation continued to lag behind local provision which had been set up in a number of boroughs, most notably norwich and ipswich

Question 13

when did parliamentary legislation begin to seriously get to grips with poor relief?

Answer 13

the 1570s

Question 14

how did elizabeth stabilise the currency?

Answer 14

• early in the reign a scheme was announced for the withdrawal of debased coins and their replacement by soundly minted coins
• prices continued to rise but the government could now no longer be held responsible

Question 15

what was the fundamental paradox of elizbath’s reign?

Answer 15

• her most enthusiastic supporters often demonstrated a protestant zeal which ensured their loyalty to the queen but which was wholly at variance with elizabeth’s own sceptical and sometimes conservative approach to religious matters

Question 16

how was the protestant emphasis reflected?

Answer 16

• the appointment of new bishops, all but one of the marian bishops refused to continue.
• most of the new bishops were returning exiles (along with a few moderates) and their appointments were part of a conscious strategy to reshape the church of england along more evangelical lines

Question 17

what more conservative religious views did elizabeth possess?

Answer 17

• she disapproved of clergy marrying
• she distrusted preaching
• she ensured the preservation of the musical culture of the cathedrals and university colleges

Question 18

what was elizabeth’s view of the settlement?

Answer 18

essentially that the settlement was merely an act of state which defined the relationship between the crown and the church, and it established the church’s doctrinal position conclusively

Question 19

how did others view the settlement? (including many of her key advisers, like cecil and Dudley)

Answer 19

• the settlement represented the starting point for a process of spiritual renewal which would bring about the establishment of a true church in england and which saw the english as god’s elect nation
• it was from this view that puritanism would emerge

Question 20

what two developments over the next four years defined the character of the religious settlement?

Answer 20

1. the 1562 publication of An Apology of the Church of England by John Jewel, bishop of salisbury
2. The publication of the 1563 Thirty-Nine Articles of religion

Question 21

what did the 1563 thirty-nine articles of religion do?

Answer 21

• the articles sought to define the difference between the church of england and the catholic church
• they were broadly supportive of reformed doctrine

Question 22

why was the church of england ‘but half-reformed’ in its structures?

Answer 22

• the convocation proved to be unsuccessful in achieving the wider aims of its leading members concerning the remaining features of catholic practice within the church and its structures, disciplinary procedures, services and clerical dress.