Elizabeth

Question 1

In the early years of E’s reign who did the suitors for E’s hand include?

Answer 1

Robert Dudley - future Earl of Leicester (probably E’s preferred choice) but this horrified Cecil whose own influence would have been seriously eroded, it would also have created other political risks (a consequence of the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Leicester’s first wife - Amy)
Philip of Spain - offered his hand in a polite gesture to E but probably lacked serious intent, partly due to his profound Catholicism
The archdukes Ferdinand and Charles - sons of the emperor Ferdinand but both were Catholic
Prince Erik of Sweden, a Protestant suitor, to whom E gave little encouragement

Question 2

What was the death of Amy Dudley?

Answer 2

She was found at the bottom of the stairs dead, with a broken neck - it was immediately assumed by many that she had been murdered on the orders of her husband which would leave him conveniently free to marry E - it did the opposite making a royal marriage for Dudley practically impossible even though the coroner’s jury rules that the death was accidental

Question 3

Why was the situation very different when Parliament met again in 1563?

Answer 3

Elizabeth had been stricken with smallpox in October 1562 and for a time it seemed she might die therefore creating a succession crisis - councillors were aware of the disasters that might occur should the queen die e.g. civil war, foreign invasion, religious strife and therefore the panic among her councillors shouldn’t be underestimated

Question 4

What did Parliament do again in 1566 and what was the result?

Answer 4

Pressed E to marry - some MPs were prompted by members of the Privy Council including Cecil and Leicester but their motives differed - E was furious banishing Leicester and the Earl of Pembroke from the Presence Chamber, publicly rebuking other members of the council and summoning both houses of Parliament for a telling off, thus reasserting her view that marriage and succession were matters of the royal prerogative
Presence Chamber - when the reigning monarch was a queen, male courtiers could not normally enter the Privy Chamber so the Presence Chamber was the place where private contact could be made with the monarch so temporary banishment from it for Leicester and Pembroke was a significant punishment

Question 5

How was Mary Queen of Scots marriage to Darnley a disaster?

Where did Mary go as a result and when?

Answer 5

The marriage was a disaster with Mary being implicated in her husband’s murder and a subsequent third marriage to the Lord of Darnley’s presumed murderer, the Earl of Bothwell, set off a brief civil war which saw Mary flee to England in 1567

Question 6

From the time when Mary fled south to her execution in 1587 what did she pose and why?

Answer 6

A continuous problem for E since some English Catholics saw her as the rightful monarch and she became the focus of plots to overthrow E

Question 7

Why did the problem of Mary QoS grow worse after E’s excommunication in 1570?

Answer 7

In the eyes of the Catholic Church this absolved E’s Catholic subjects from the need to obey their ruler which scared E and her council resulting in the tightening of the treason law
After the excommunication, Protestants were deemed loyalists and Catholics, traitors

Question 8

When and what was the Ridolfi plot?

What was the outcome?

Answer 8

1571 - involved a conspiracy for Mary to marry the Duke of Norfolk and to overthrow Elizabeth - allowed Burghley (Cecil) to ensure the execution of Norfolk for treason

Question 9

When and what was the Throckmorton plot?

Answer 9

1583 - foreign landing in Sussex followed by overthrow of Elizabeth and her replacement by Mary - foiled by the efficiency of Sir Francis Walsingham’s espionage network - led to the creation of the bond association, worsened Anglo-Spanish relations and tightened conditions of Mary’s captivity

Question 10

When and what was the Parry plot?

Answer 10

1585 - a plot to assassinate the queen - led to the acceleration of Parliamentary proceedings on a bill to ensure the queen’s safety

Question 11

When and what was the Babington plot?

Answer 11

1586 - Mary complicit in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth but exposed by Walsingham’s codebreaker, Thomas Phelippes - enabled Burghley to secure Mary’s execution

Question 12

For what three reasons did Anglo-Spanish relations deteriorate at the end of the 1560’s?

Answer 12

1) The trading activities of John Hawkins attempted to break the Spanish trading monopoly in the Caribbean and infuriated Spanish interests so much that in September 1568 his fleet was blockaded in the Mexican Port of San Juan de Ulua and only two of his ships were able to escape
2) The situation in the Netherlands - Philip wanted a tighter form of political organisation in the Netherlands under more direct Spanish control, which would help root out heresy. Elizabeth came under pressure from Protestant councillors to aid the Dutch Protestants who feared danger. She was reluctant to act action having suffered heavily from her French adventure and had qualms about aiding rebels who were fighting sovereign authority
3) The English found opportunities to harass the Spanish e.g. in November 1568, a storm forced several Spanish vessels, carrying 400,000 florins which was intended to pay the army of the Duke of Alba, Philip’s general in the Netherlands, to seek shelter in English ports, Elizabeth impounded the money (led to Alba seizing English ships and money in the Netherlands)

Question 13

What else had served to sour Anglo-Spanish by the 1570’s?

Answer 13

The breakdown of Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Dutch trade, Philip’s encouragement to the Northern Rebellion in 1569 and the Ridolfi plot in 1571, and the excommunication of Elizabeth in 1570

Question 14

In 1572 how did E (possibly inadvertently) contribute significantly to the decline of Anglo-Spanish relations?

Answer 14

By expelling the Sea Beggars from English ports - they were forced to land in the Dutch port of Brielle and their occupation of the port, unchecked by the Spanish garrison there, sparked off a full-scale revolt against the rule of Spain

Question 15

What was Elizabeth’s view on the French preparation to invade the Netherlands?

Answer 15

This is not what she’d hoped for and she even contemplated marriage to the French Duke of Anjou to retain English influence in the Netherlands

Question 16

What did the Spanish then do involving the Netherlands making matters worse for E?

Answer 16

The Spanish made their peace with the Union of Arras, thereby creating the basis by which the new government general, the Duke of Parma (Governor of the Spanish Netherlands), could begin his conquest of the northern provinces
In 1580 Spanish control also strengthened by the annexation of Portugal

Question 17

After 1580 why did the situation in the Netherlands (already bad) deteriorate further from an English perspective?

Answer 17

As Parma’s reconquest of the north gained momentum, leaving only the provinces of Holland and Zeeland in Protestant hands - the rebel leader (William of Orange) was also assassinated - making matters worse

Question 18

What agreement was made in 1584 and why did this alarm E?

Answer 18

Philip II and the Catholic League in France came to an agreement in the Treaty of Joinville at the end of 1584 - alarmed E as the Guise family led the Catholic League and with the Guises as his allies, Philip no longer had a political motive to prevent him from supporting Mary QoS (Mary of Guise = mother of Mary QoS

Question 19

Why was the Armada defeated?

Answer 19

Number of explanations - 1) the strategy which required the fleet to land in the Spanish Netherlands so that Parma’s army could be taken on board was flawed, the Armadas leadership (by the Duke of Medina Sidonia) might be questioned, the English were quick to exploit the opportunities offered by the vagaries of the weather e.g. sending fireships to destroy some of the Armada while at anchor; the English also benefited from superior gunnery and manoeuvrability and the ‘Protestant wind’ favoured the English

Question 20

What happened to the war with Spain after the defeat of the Armada?

Answer 20

It dragged on at great expense for a further 16 years and peace was not concluded until the deaths of both Elizabeth and Philip
The war was fought on several fronts: at sea off western Europe, in the Caribbean, on land in France, the Netherlands and Ireland, where it was connected to a revolt against E’s rule

Question 21

What did the capture of Cadiz do to Philip and what was the outcome?

Answer 21

Humiliated him and prevented Spanish merchant vessels from sailing to the West Indies which proved a blow to the Spanish
Also provoked Philip into an uncharacteristically incautious response as in 1596 he ordered a fleet to invade England but by the time it set sail it was well into autumn and was defeated by storms but the threat to England remained clear nevertheless

Question 22

What was the cost of the English maintaining a force in the Netherlands like

Answer 22

High but the Dutch paid a share of the running costs

Question 23

By 1594 what had happened in the Netherlands?

Answer 23

The Spanish had been expelled from all of the lands of the northern Netherlands
The Dutch revolt had proved successful and some of the credit lay with the English crown

Question 24

How had English objectives been triumphantly achieved in the Netherlands?

Answer 24

The northern Netherlands became an independent state, the southern Netherlands, while remaining under Spanish power, also achieved a degree of autonomy and therefore no major foreign power was entrenched in the Netherlands

Question 25

Was Elizabeth’s foreign policy successful?

Answer 25

Despite its expense, proved broadly successful
E and her councillors changed the emphasis on FP away from dynastic considerations and desire for glory to a more hard-headed approach in what might have constituted a national interest
Conflict with Spain was long running and expensive but the English ultimately fared better from the conflict, enhancing E’s reputation

Question 26

By E’s reign what had the nobility become?

Answer 26

More peaceful than in earlier times and less concerned with defence

Question 27

Below the dukes what did the other four ranks of peerage (though few in number) sought to do and what did E do in contrast?

Answer 27

Enhance their social prestige through massive building projects - partly to ensure that they could accommodate the queen in appropriate surroundings on royal progresses e.g. The House of Burghley (then in Northamptonshire) built by Burghley and Wilton in Wiltshire (build by the Earl of Pembroke) were build on a grand scale
E chose not to emulate such grandeur , she was instead, inclined on cost grounds to modify some of the many building projects of her father

Question 28

Who came below the peerage and who did this include?

Answer 28

The Gentry - continued to elude precise definition and embraced a wide social range, from influential knights of the shire and figures of national importance e.g. Sir Christopher Hatton, to modest local landowners. In between = the county gentlemen and esquires who dominated local government through their work as JPs and who often took on local office without reward

Question 29

What about the gentry changed in E’s reign?

Answer 29

The gentry class increased and the proportion who were seriously wealthy also went up

Question 30

Why did the gap between rich and poor widen?

Answer 30

The period witnessed the beginnings of a consumer society amongst the prosperous members of the landed, mercantile and professional classes - landed incomes increased (especially after around 1570) whereas the poorer sectors of the population found themselves vulnerable to enclosure and the persistent decline in real wages

Question 31

What remained the only large city and what was the population?

Answer 31

London - whose population, much of which now lived outside the bounds of the city, was probably as high as 15,000
London acted as a magnet for migrants for other parts of the country

Question 32

What were the largest provincial cities?

Answer 32

Bristol and Norwich but few other cities had populations in excess of 5000

Question 33

What two acts were passed in the 1570’s to relieve poverty?

Answer 33

An Act of 1572 established the principle that local ratepayers should be required to pay a rate for the relief of their own poor
The Poor Law Act of 1576 - the first act to attempt to create a national system of poor relief to be financed and administered locally - under the acts towns were required to make provision for the employment of the deserving poor

Question 34

What further acts helped the poor?

Answer 34

Further acts in 1598 and 1601 completed the legislative process
Under the Elizabethan Poor Law Act of 1601, the parish became designated as the institution required to raise the rates for, and to administer, poor relief. Each Parish was to appoint an overseer of the poor who was to ensure both the efficient collection of poor rates and appropriate distribution of relief to the poor. The overseer’s key responsibilities = relieving the impotent poor, setting the able-bodied to work and apprenticing poor children. Their activities were supervised by JPs

Question 35

Through the poor laws what had Elizabethan government done?

Answer 35

Taken upon itself the responsibility of ensuring a minimum level of subsistence for the deserving poor - this was a legislative achievement that remained largely intact until 1834

Question 36

What wad the treatment of the undeserving poor like in contrast and examples?

Answer 36

Remained harsh - an extremely repressive and ultimately unenforceable act against vagrancy had been introduced in 1547 and although it was quickly repealed, the idea remained that the undeserving poor should be whipped
In 1572 an Act added branding to the range of punishments available to the authorities

Question 37

During the panic of 1597 which act was passed?

Answer 37

One which laid down that first-time offenders should be whipped and then sent back to the parish of their birth and repeat offenders should be executed

Question 38

What and where was the third Irish rebellion?

Answer 38

Centred in Ulster, where the clan chief Hugh O’Neill, created Earl of Tyrone by E in 1585, rose up in rebellion in 1595 with the Spanish trying to exploit the situation by including an Irish group in the Armada of 1596

Question 39

What was the outcome of the third Irish rebellion / attempts of the Spanish to exploit it?

Answer 39

Attempt of the Spanish was unsuccessful but the fact the Spanish had so clearly signalled their intentions cause unease amongst E and her councillors
Made worse when the rebels were victorious in the Battle of Yellow Ford in August 1598

Question 40

What happened as a result of the Battle of Yellow Ford and the aftermath?

Answer 40

Tyrone and his allies were in control of much of Ireland ‘beyond the Pale’. It looked as if Tyrone might establish an independent and Catholic Ireland that would look to Spain for support

Question 41

In the content of Ireland and in some desperation what did E do and what was the outcome?

Answer 41

Sent the Earl of Essex to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant in 1599
Proved to be a error due to the readiness of Essex to disobey the Queen’s orders - Essex had a large force but instead of confronting Tyrone, he made a truce before defying the queen’s orders and returning to court

Question 42

What is Martial law?

Answer 42

Legal authority and political control exercised by military authority.

Question 43

Once the English were shorn of Essex’s weak leadership what happened in Ireland and what did Tyrone appear saved by?

Answer 43

England made significant progress under the new Lord Lieutenant, Lord Mountjoy and Sir George Carew
Tyrone seemed saved by the landing in Kinsale of over 3000 Spanish troops during September 1601

Question 44

Which events reflected a fear about social dislocation that didn’t represent reality?

Answer 44

The authorities fear of vagabondage as they reserved severe treatments for who them considered the undeserving poor
Food riots took place in London, Kent, Hampshire and Norfolk
The heavy-handed response of the government to the so called ‘Oxfordshire-rising’ of 1596 (in reality not a rising but an ill thought-out scheme by a tiny group of four men made desperate by their experience of poverty to seize armaments and march on London)

Question 45

Where did the only significant rebellion against E take place?

Answer 45

Mainly in Durham and the North Riding of West Yorkshire in 1569, which linked to a rising in Cumberland in 1570

Question 46

Who led the Northern rebellion?

Answer 46

Headed by the leading northern nobility, the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland

Question 47

What helped cause the Northern Rebellion?

Answer 47

Genuine religious passion played apart amongst both leaders and ordinary participants
The rebel leaders also had political motives - they considered themselves dishonoured by having been displaced from their traditional aristocratic roles of controlling northern government
Also been argued the rebellion was linked to courtly conspiracies - it was proposed that Westmoreland’s brother-in-law, the Duke of Norfolk, should marry Mary QoS, who could be restored to the Scottish throne - a plan which triggered a volcanic response from E when she discovered it

Question 48

After seizing Durham where did the rebels march on and what happened?

Answer 48

On York - camping for a time on Bramham Moor west of the city , however they made no attempt to capture it nor did they march south in an attempt to pressurise the government - instead they moved back to Durham and besieged the crowns stronghold of Barnard castle which fell to the rebels on 14th December

Question 49

For what reasons did the rebellion fail?

Answer 49

Hopeless disorganisation, with a lack of clarity concerning the rebels’ objectives
Poor leadership
Lack of expected foreign support
Decisive action from the authorities

Question 50

What two things can be said about the pattern of trade in E’s reign ?

Answer 50

1) The value of internal trade considerably exceeded that of foreign trade - the biggest single development in internal trade was the growth in shipping of coal from Tyne to Thames to meet the demand of the growing demands from London (some exported across north sea for rapidly developing trade with France)
2) A wider range of luxury foreign goods came to be imported during E’s reign, suggesting that such goods were becoming affordable for a wider range of the population

Question 51

What two other things can be said about the pattern of trade in E’s reign ?

Answer 51

3) The cloth trade with the Netherlands, while remaining important, declined relatively as part of the economy. The Antwerp cloth market had declined from the early 1550’s and William Cecil was anxious for political reasons to end the dependence on a single market - alternative trade developed based on the north German port of Emden but the major move was to Amsterdam, whose commercial growth came at the expense of Antwerp, which remained under Spanish control
4) Though attempts to establish new over-seas markets did take place e.g. in Russia, these remained economically marginal

Question 52

What did John Hawkins do?

Answer 52

Made three expeditions from 1562, acquiring slaves in Africa that he then transported and sold in South America

Question 53

What were the main changes in English trading pattern?

Answer 53

1) The main market for English wool moved from the southern to the northern Netherlands
2) There was an increase in trade with the Ottoman empire
(despite this England remained relatively backwards in its exploitation of trading opportunities in E’s reign

Question 54

What trading companies were set up to widen England’s trading interests and were they successful?

Answer 54

The Muscovy Company had been incorporated in 1555 (under Mary) to trade with Russia and northern Europe, though it failed in the long-term to compete effectively with the Dutch
The Eastland company set up in 1579 to trade in the Baltic but had similarly limited effect
The Levant Company, founded in 1581 as the Turkish company enjoyed success in its attempts to develop trade with the Ottoman empire
The East India company was set up in 1600 to trade with Asia but it had less investment compared with the Dutch East India company and therefore found it difficult to compete in the short term

Question 55

What was of little importance at the time but assumed greater significance in light of subsequent developments and whose idea was it?

Answer 55

The extension of trade to the mainland of North America and the attempt to form a colony in north Virginia
Suggestion that England should start colonising North America originated with entrepreneur and explorer Humphrey Gilbert

Question 56

What was the outcome of Raleigh’s expedition and why?

Answer 56

Unfortunately for his investors and the settlers who died in the process - the attempts at colonisation proved disastrous due to a combination of bad organisation, bad luck and reluctance of the queen to give the matter priority when she faced war with Spain
Permanent English colonisation of Virginia had to wait until the reign of James I

Question 57

What broad trends can be detected in terms of prosperity and land?

Answer 57

Generally, landowners benefited from the economic trends present in E’s reign
Land incomes rose and many landowners acquired a range of material possessions which would have been unknown to their grand parents generation
In many case landowners had been able to benefit from the generosity of Henry VIII and Edward VI who, looking for a quick profit, sold much of the land which they had acquired through the dissolution of Church property often at knock-down prices

Question 58

Which towns tended to do well?

Answer 58

Tended either to have a broad range of manufacturing industry or were unincorporated towns in which industry was able to develop without hinderance of regulation

Question 59

What is one issue with urban prosperity that was very difficult to resolve and did it effect everyone?

Answer 59

The impact of the growth of London on other urban centres
It was often alleged at the time that the growth of London, both as a port and an industrial centre had a detrimental effect on other towns and cities - however some places, most importantly Newcastle, benefited from supplying London’s economic needs

Question 60

Why did not all share the prosperity?

Answer 60

For many, real wages fell which was a particular problem at times of harvest failure and the impact was particularly bad when there were successive bad harvests making the experience of 1594-97 when there were four successive poor harvests catastrophic for some
Apparently 9/44 harvests could be described as poor