elizabeth Flashcards
what was the situation on elizabeth’s accession
when elizabeth became queen on the death of mary in 1558 she had to content with urgent problems as follows:
the fear of invasion
financial concerns
religious challenges
in addition she was considered to be vulnerable because of her gender & this raised issues of security at home and abroad
what is house of commons
the lower house of parliament there were about 450 MPs who were elected by wealthy landowners. members were mainly merchants gentlemen and lawyers
what is parliament
the representative law making body consisting of the monarch, the house of lords and the house of commons
what is privy council
a committee of ministers apppinted bt elizabeth to advise her
what were elizabeth’s personal provlems
many catholics believed elizabeth was illegitimate because her parents marriage had been illegal and thus she has no claim to the throne
many felt that a single women could not offer a strong effective monarchy she was seen as weak and vulnerable
marriage would hopefully lead to an heir and this would settle the issue of succession in the event of elizabeth’s death
there was a fear that elizabeth would not choose her advisers wisely
what were elizabeth’s strength as a character
she was brought up as a protestant
she was well educated with a sharp mind
she endured the execution of her mother and imprisonment by her half sisyer
she was cautious and has seen political intrigue for most of her life
challenges at home and abroad
tudor monarchs were expected to pay for the costs of running england, if the ruler needed more money then parliament had to be called. rulers did not like to do this because it seemed to give parliament too much power
1558- england was at war with france and the threat of invasion was great
the war against france was costly so elizabeth inherited debt of £300,000
government spending was high when elizabeth became queen and despite behind in debt she spent £100,000 on arms and munitions
royal land had not produced sufficient rent to keep the exchequers books balanced
many in france believed that mary queen of scott’s shohld be ruler of england. mary was elizabeth’s heir she was a roman catholic and was married to the son of the french king
when had religion been a problem
religion has been a source of many problems since Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon in 1533.
Elizabeth didn’t want to antagonize the protestants and catholics but creating a splitting would be difficult and religion continued to be a thorny issue for her mucn of her reign
religious divisions in 1558
queen mary introduced roman catholicism when she became ruler and this caused great resentment among protestants but pleased the catholics
elizabeth was a protestant and they hoped for a change in religion
roman catholics and protestants
protestants rebelled against Queen mary’s reintroduction of catholicism mary had burned 300 protestants who refused to change their religion
elizabeth was a protestant and sought to restore england to protestantism but was aware that forcing people to change religion could cause a civil war
elizabeth did not want to surrender authority of the pope
many of elizabeth’s newly appointed advisers were protestants
there were some protestants - the puritans - who wished to follow their own strict hand of religion without any remnants of the catholic faith
elizabeth’s religious settlement 1559
she tried to create
