Elizabeth and Finance

Question 1

Who was William Paulet?

Answer 1

Marquis of Winchester; Lord Treasurer until 1572

Question 2

Who was William Cecil?

Answer 2

Secretary of state; Lord Treasurer from 1572

Question 3

Who was Sir Thomas Gresham?

Answer 3

Founded the Royal Exchange (equivalent to Antwerp) in 1565; a key financial adviser to Elizabeth

Question 4

Who was Sir Walter Mildway?

Answer 4

Chancellor of the Exchequer and announced in 1576 that Elizabeth had delivered the Kingdom from debt.

Question 5

What happened in 1585?

Answer 5

War with Spain begins; Elizabeth has paid off Mary’s debt and has £300,000 in reserve.

Question 6

What happened in 1589?

Answer 6

Protests in parliament about purveyance

Question 7

What happened in 1597?

Answer 7

Protests in parliament about monopolies

Question 8

What happened in 1601?

Answer 8

Golden speech, Some monopolies cancelled; Act for the relief of the poor.

Question 9

What does Ordinary income mean?

Answer 9

The crown’s regular and personal sources of income, which were paid directly into the Exchequer.

Question 10

What does Extraordinary income mean?

Answer 10

Occasional sums of money, to cover unexpected and expensive things such as warfare. It had to be granted by parliament and usually came in the form of taxation

Question 11

What does Tenths and Fifteenths mean?

Answer 11

A basic parliamentary tax. It was theoretically, a tenth of the value of movable goods in urban areas and a fifteenth in rural areas.

Question 12

What does Exchequer mean?

Answer 12

Royal treasury; collected revenue and made payments; income came mainly from lands, import duties and any taxation granted by parliament.

Question 13

What does Debasement mean?

Answer 13

The act of adding non - precious metals (such as lead) to the coinage of the land. This increased the spending power of the monarch, but led to inflation.

Question 14

What were Monopolies?

Answer 14

This was “royal patent for the sole right of exporting, importing, manufacturing, or disturbing some particular article” (S. Atkins) Monopolies could thus set their own prices, and were often very unpopular as a result

Question 15

In 1601 what did one MP famously call monopolies?

Answer 15

“Bloodsuckers of the commonweal”

Question 16

What were Wardships?

Answer 16

Principle landowners were technically tenants in chief of Crown, who held their land in return for military service. Underage heirs could not do this military service, so the land was held under royal ward. This wardship could be sold, or exploited for profit. As such, they were a useful additional to the Crown’s ordinary revenue.

Question 17

What was Purveyance?

Answer 17

This was the right of the Court to buy commodities a a price they themselves set. It was meant to be used only in extraordinary times, such as war.

Question 18

What were custom duties?

Answer 18

These were taxes on imports - Book of Rates. The most important was the Tonnage and Poundage duties. At the start of each reign, Parliament voted the profits from these to the monarch. They were an essential part of Elizabeth’s ordinary revenues.

Question 19

What were subsidies?

Answer 19

A parliamentary tax on land and goods. It was based on an individual’s ability to pay.

Question 20

How much of the £227,000 debt owed to Antwerp at what percent?

Answer 20

£106,000 owed to Antwerp at 14% per year.

Question 21

How much debt was Elizabeth left with from Mary’s reign?

Answer 21

£227,000

Question 22

What financial difficulties did Elizabeth face?

Answer 22

Harvests been less productive in the late 1550s = heavier demands on provisions for the poor.
Outbreak of influenza
She had inherited revised Book of Rates which increased custom duties.

Question 23

What was Elizabeth fortunate to inherit from her sister Mary’s financial legacy?

Answer 23

She was fortunate to inherit really strong financial advisers.

Question 24

What did debasement lead to?

Answer 24

Leading to inflation of (75%)

Question 25

What were the reforming sources of income in the Elizabethan reign?

Answer 25

Was difficult as she was not totally secure on the throne, Crown lands had been reduced by saes in previous reigns. Income from custom duties would only increase if new trade developed. She could encourage new ventures but had little control over how successful they would be.

Question 26

How much of a surplus was there by 1585?

Answer 26

£300,000

Question 27

Why was there a surplus by 1585?

Answer 27

Reduced household, no palaces, ended the war with France, JPs used to collect taxes, salaries frozen, reduced patronage.

Question 28

How much was raised by selling crown lands?

Answer 28

£600,000

Question 29

What were joint trading stock companies?

Answer 29

Owners raised capital through through selling shares. Shareholders hope to make a profit from their investment. Merchants sought new outlets for their cloth beyond the boundaries of Europe. They also hoped to find a route east so they could complete with the Portuguese for the rich spice trade.

Question 30

What events after 1585 threatened Elizabeth’s financial stability?

Answer 30

Outbreak of war with Spain and the intervention in Ireland = unprecedented demands for taxation and ruined healthy situation of earlier part of her reign, crown revenues not sufficient to cope with any emergency and need for radical overhaul. Elizabeth relied on unpopular methods of raising income, provoked major clash with MPs in 1601.

Question 31

How much money was spent after 1585?

Answer 31

£4 million spent.

Question 32

How did Elizabeth raise extraordinary income after 1585?

Answer 32

Monopolies, Purveyance, forced loans, selling crow land and subsidies.

Question 33

What strategies did Elizabeth resort to in the 1950s?

Answer 33

Elizabeth relied increasingly on parliamentary taxation. She also used purveyance and monopolies which were increasingly unpopular.

Question 34

What were the effects of the strategies Elizabeth resorted to in the 1950s?

Answer 34

In the last parliament attacks on Elizabeth for granting monopolies were ferocious, causing her to back down and investigate.

Question 35

What did Elizabeth manage to achieve in twenty years?

Answer 35

Ended country’s dependence on foreign loans
Paid off her debts
Begun to build a reserve
Able to finance against Spain and in Ireland leaving debt significantly larger than Mary’s

Question 36

What criticism were there on Elizabeth’s financial policy?

Answer 36

Ordinary revenue was allowed to stagnate
Parliamentary taxation was not reformed
Cecil was too conservative as Lord Treasurer from 1572
Financing war with Spain
The use of unpaid official’s reduced their efficiency

Question 37

What impact did Elizabeth’s financial policy have on the population?

Answer 37

Inflation + population = huge on less well-off classes
Governments feared possibility of uprisings and also began to believe they had some moral responsibility for the poorest - people. Where monasteries had once ministered to the poor, now no-religious authorities had to take over and local landowners expected to make contributions for the relief of the poor. By the end of the reign problem was reduced, helped by easing of the rate of inflation and better harvests.