Eizabeth I: culture, society, economy and exploration

Question 1

what caused rising tensions amongst society in Elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 1

• the rising population (2.3 million in the 1520s to 3 million in the 1550s to 4 million by 1600)
• the redistribution of land following the dissolution

Question 2

what effect did population growth have?

Answer 2

• led to the availability of labour (?) and as there was so much available wages did not rise with inflation
• about 50% of the rural and urban poor lived below subsistence level

Question 3

how did Elizabeth deal with societal issues?

Answer 3

through her extensive poverty legislation

Question 4

when did social problems become acute during her reign?

Answer 4

• in the 1590s due to inflation, poor harvests and the war with Spain
• this was partially dealt with through the poor law act of 1597 to avoid rebellion
• was then combined with the 1601 legislation that formed the basis of England’s treatment of the poor until the C19

Question 5

where can the success of Elizabeth’s poverty legislation be seen?

Answer 5

• there were significantly less riots and rebellions and certainly nothing of the scale of 1549
• there were some food riots in London in 1595
• there were further riots in east anglia in 1596-7
• this spurred the council into the 1597 poor law

Question 6

how did the arts flower under Elizabeth?

Answer 6

architecture
literature
paintings and portraits
plays and theatres
music

Question 7

architecture under Elizabeth?

Answer 7

• increase of noble manor houses e.g. William Cecil Burghley house
• increase of Tudor townhouse architecture
• first named English architect appears: Robert Smythson

Question 8

paintings and portraits under Elizabeth?

Answer 8

• rainbow/eyes and ears portrait
• had a court minitiarist
• the Armada portait
• lacked skills of Holbein but most gifted were Hilliar and Oliver

Question 9

plays and theatres under Elizabeth?

Answer 9

• The Queen’s players
• Shakespeare (towards the end of her reign), Marlow and Kyd
• Shakespeare wrote the Merry Wives of Windsor because Elizabeth said she’d like to see Falstaff in love
• the globe (1599), the theatre and the swan
• patronage of the theatre particularly important as puritans disapproved of it and embarked on a propoganda war in the 1590s

Question 10

music under Elizabeth?

Answer 10

• church music
• Catholic sounding making it accessible
• Thomas Tallis and Byrd employed in the Chapel Royal
• 25 Madrigals, the triumph of Oriana by Morely to honour the queen

Question 11

literature under Elizabeth?

Answer 11

• less religious literature, reflected classical ideas and works by Roman scholars were translated into English
• rise in grammar schools e.g. Harrow
• by 1580 around 4000 titles were published a year
• the faerie queen ‘gloriana’
• but fewer than 20% of the population could even sign their name

Question 12

what percent was inflation across the 16th century?

Answer 12

around 400%

Question 13

what were the likely causes of inflation?

Answer 13

• government spending
• debasement of coinage
• increase of bullion across Europe
• bad harvest
• land sales

Question 14

when were the two instances of debasement of coinage (sorry not really related to Elizabeth)

Answer 14

1544 and 1551

Question 15

what events had negative effects on the economy?

Answer 15

• 1594-7 saw successive crop failures which pushed up prices by around a third
• there were outbreaks of plague worsened by a lack of food
• thousands died in the outbreak from 1592-3

Question 16

what five trading advancements were there under Elizabeth?

Answer 16

1. in the 1560s Jenkinson explored from Russia into Persia to expand trading links there
2. the Muscovy Company helped to break the monopoly of the Hanseatic league
3. the monopoly of spain was attempted to be broken e.g. in 1562 Hawkins went to Africa, captured locals and took them to the West Indies as slaves which was so successful he repeated the expedition, Philip warned England about privateering and the third expedition saw Hawkins attacked in Mexico
4. there were attempts to trade with India - in 1583 they made it to India via land and in 1581 Africa was sailed around to get to the east indie
5. 1600 saw massive success with the development of the east india company

Question 17

what discoveries were there under Elizabeth?

Answer 17

1. Frobisher sailed north of Canada in 1576, 1577 and 1578 and discovered what he named as the Frobisher strait in an attempt to find China
2. Drake circumnavigated the globe from 1577-80
3. from 1585-7 John Davies did not find anything of commerical value but made huge contributions to the mapping of the arctic
4. in 1595 Raleigh tried to find the mythical Inca El Dorado

Question 18

how did Elizabeth dent Spanish naval reputation?

Answer 18

• by 1600 England had gained the reputation of being a seafaring nation
• they were beginning to challenge Spanish and Portuguese assumptions that newfound land was automatically theirs
• the defeat of the Spanish armada
• Drake’s circumnavigation
• Drake’s capture of spanish silver at nombre de dios

Question 19

what attempts were there to set up colonies?

Answer 19

• Gilbert tried to in the north west of America for trading purposes in 1578 and in Newfoundland in 1583, failed
• Raleigh’s attempt to set up a colony called Virginia also failed