Chapter 24 Flashcards
The political condition of England by 1603
Though England enjoyed broadly effective government during most of Elizabeth’s reign, there was a decline in royal authority and the quality of administration during the 1590s. One of the reasons for this revolved around anxieties over the succession; another concerned the queen’s ministers and problems in the Privy Council and between factions. The crisis involving the Earl of Essex, which culminated in his execution for treason in 1601, is indicative of the difficulties which royal authority faced.
However, despite the Essex ‘rebellion’ a broad political unity had been achieved by 1603. All English people, apart from a small minority of militant Catholics, were broadly loyal to the Crown. On the other hand, the queen had reigned too long; her reputation had been tarnished by the events of the last years of her reign, and she seemed out of touch with the aspirations of a Younger generation who looked forward to the accession of a king.
The economic condition of England by 1603
In some respects England had experienced considerable economic continuity during the sixteenth century. However, by the beginning of the seventeenth century it was evident that some of the economic circumstances which would later in the century lead to commercial domination were in place, even if only in an early form. For example, the setting up of trading companies to challenge the domination of the Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch and the beginnings of an interest in the Americas. Nevertheless, the importance of such factors should not be exaggerated, and the organisation of English capitalism, in particular, was crude in comparison with the commercial sophistication of the Dutch.
Regardless of this, cottage industries such as nail making, hosiery, soap manufacturing and brewing flourished, and total production clearly rose substantially during the course of the sixteenth century. This suggests that domestic demand was thriving. It was, however, only through thrift, multiple employments and hard work that many people were able to avoid poverty at the end of the sixteenth century.
The state of society in England by 1603
Though England remained a socially divided society with huge differences in living standards between the wealthy few and the poor majority, there were constraints which prevented society from breaking down completely.
Crucially, perhaps, most of the time the majority of the population could be fed, and there was only one subsistence crisis in the 1590s when it is known that there were deaths from starvation. The experience of the bitter years of poverty and harvest failure from 1594 to 1597 did, however, help to shape the reform of the poor law enacted in 1598 and 1601. These limited the worst effects of poverty, at least as far as the deserving poor were concerned. Furthermore, in contrast with many continental societies, the nobility were subject to taxation.
The state of religion in England by 1603
By the end of her reign Elizabeth could look upon a religious situation which was favourable. Compared with the beginning of her reign the level of popular Catholicism had declined. Moreover, English Catholics were fundamentally divided between a majority who tried to accommodate conflicting loyalties to Crown and faith and a minority who identified wholeheartedly with the bull of excommunication and who sought a Catholic succession. The Church of England, on the other hand, had become an institution with which the majority could identify, albeit in a rather loose way. Puritanism as a dynamic movement had faded and the majority of Puritans had become assimilated within the Anglican mainstream. Separatism, never a numerically strong movement, had virtually disappeared. There was a broad consensus surrounding the Church of England, which ensured a substantial degree of religious unity.
