Elizabeth and Local Government Flashcards
Local Government officials under Elizabeth
JP’s, Lord Lieutenants and Deputy Lord Lieutenants
who were the JP’s
Justices of Peace were key figures in local government responsible for administering the rule of law in their local county as well as managing their local county
what social class were JP’s appointed from?
They were appointed from the ranks of the gentry
why did their workload increase under Elizabeth
their workload increased due to the socio-economic laws passed like the Poor laws and the subsidy act 1566
how many JP’s were there
By 1600, there were over 50 JPs per county which was way more than 18 per county under Henry VII
how important were the JP’s
they were so important that they needed to have different jobs
who listed the many Jobs the JP’s had?
William Lombard in Eirenarcha 1581
were the JP’s in reality doing most of the jobs assigned to them
Although it seemed that they were doing a lot, that was not the case because it was a social honour and about half did as little as possible to enforce royal policy
why did the JP’s not fulfill their roles adequately
It was a social honour, they were not paid to be JP’s and as a result not mandated to do their job
why were they reluctant to enforce social policy
Because they sympathised with the local community
what policies were they reluctant to enforce
Policies to force Catholics to attend church
Taxation
Recruitments for military
how did Elizabeth ensure that social policy was being enforced in times of unrest
In times of poor harvest, Elizabeth and Cecil would employ special commissioners to enforce laws not local people
Who were Lord-Lieutenants
They were privy councillors and members of the nobility
what were Lord Lieutenants responsible for under Henry VIII
They were responsible for controlling local military under Henry VIII but under Elizabeth they grew in status.
was the position of a Lord Lieutenant permanent
Yes, by 1580 it became a permanent administrative post
