Elizabeth Government Flashcards
1
Q
What 4 areas can Elizabethan government be split into?
A
- Court
- Ministers
- Parliament
- Factional rivalries
2
Q
How did Elizabeth initially change the royal household?
A
- Groom of the stool removed
- Female attendants replaced gentlemen of the Privy chamber, though never performed political duties
3
Q
What were the main properties of the court?
(5 points)
A
- Visual propaganda to encourage loyalty to her & enhance her reputation
- Courtiers were educated & cultivated people
- Diplomats, foreign visitors & members of governing classes were impressed by the music, performers & composers employed by Elizabeth & practiced by her as well
- Court appealed to the self-indulgent
- Court was avenue to Royal Patronage
4
Q
What 6 things were the privy council responsible for?
A
- Crown finances
- Manage Parliament
- Oversee JP’s
- Enforce national defence
- Enforce 1559 religious settlement
- Act as a court of law (star chamber)
5
Q
Who were the 6 main ministers we should know about?
A
- William Cecil (Lord Burghley)
- Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester)
- Christopher Hatton
- Francis Walsingham
- Robert Cecil
- Robert Devereux (Earl of Essex)
6
Q
Why was William Cecil popular under Elizabeth?
(3 things)
What did he do under her government?
A
- Management of Parliament (really influential)
- Foreign Policy (intervention in Scotland)
- Financial policy
- Secretary of state 1558
- Made Lord Burghley 1571
- Made Lord Treasurer 1572
- Dominated the council
- Spanish Ambassador called him ‘ The man who does everything’
7
Q
Why was Robert Dudley popular under Elizabeth? (2 things)
What did Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester) do under her Government?
A
- Mainly FP (intervention in France & Netherlands)
- Connection to succession
- Appointed Master of the Horse on Elizabeth’s accession
- Spanish Ambassador said Dudley was ‘among three persons to run the country’
- Dudley’s relationship to Elizabeth became scandalous, especially when Dudley’s wife (Amy) found dead at the bottom of her stairs (1560)
- Oct (1562) Elizabeth had smallpox so asked the Privy Council to make Dudley Protector of the realm with £20,000 a year, when she didn’t die he was made Privy councillor
- 1563 Elizabeth suggested: Dudley marry Mary QoS
- Sept 1564 Dudley made Earl of Leicester (to make Dudley more appealing for marriage)
- 1565 Mary agreed to marriage, Dudley not willing
- Died 1588 after bad military campaign in Netherlands
8
Q
Why was Christopher Hatton popular under Elizabeth? (3 things)
What did Christopher Hatton do under her Government?
A
- Role in government
- Role in marriage negotiations
- Role in handling Mary QoS
- Member of Northamptonshire gentry
- Studied law at Oxford Uni
- 1561 Hatton played Master of the Game (form of entertainment)
- Hatton’s dancing (handsome & skilled) won him the Queen’s favour
- Promoted to a Gentleman of Privy Chamber & made Captain of Queen’s bodyguard
- These promotions prompted rumours Queen & Hatton were shagging
- Accusation made by Mary QoS (1584)
- 1571 elected as MP
- Helped manage parliament
- 1581 appointed to arrange marriage between Elizabeth & Francois, Duke of Alencon (Hatton did not approve of the marriage)
- 1586 member of the law court to try Anthony Babington
- 1587 a commissioner in finding Mary QoS guilty of treason
- 1587 became Lord Chancellor
- Died 1591
9
Q
Why was Sir Francis Walsingham popular under Elizabeth?
What did he do under her Government?
A
- Uncovering plots
- Role in marriage negotiations
- Walsingham fled England (1553) after death of Edward VI along with John Foxe & John Cheke
- Returned upon Elizabeth’s accession
- 1559 elected as MP
- By 1569 Walsingham working with William Cecil to disrupt plots against Elizabeth
- Walsingham instrumental in collapse of Ridolfi plot & Babington plot (triggering execution of Mary QoS)
- 1570 English Ambassador to Paris
- Marriage negotiations between Liz & Duke of Anjou (collapsed)
- On return from France Walsingham appointed gentleman of Privy Chamber
- Also made joint Secretary of State
- 1577 Knighted
- Died 1590
10
Q
What did Robert Cecil do under Elizabeth’s Government?
A
- Son of William Cecil
- Endured ridicule due to his Scoliosis & height (5ft4”)
- Elizabeth called him Pygmy & James I called him ‘my little beagle)
- 1584 elected as MP, never spoke in Parliament until 1593
- Following death of Francis Walsingham (1593), William Cecil acted as secretary of State so Robert Cecil took on more work
- 1591 Knighted & appointed to privy Council
- Robert Cecil had beef with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex & only prevailed at Court due to Essex’s failings in Ireland
- 1601 Essex’s rebellion aimed at Robert Cecil who was to be removed & impeached
- 1603 Cecil able to secure the accession to the throne of James I
11
Q
What did Robert Devereux (Earl of Essex) under her Government?
A
- Stepson of Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester)
- Robert Devereux did Military service in Netherlands under Robert Dudley
- Won the Queen’s favour
- After his fathers death Queen transferred fathers monopoly on sweet wines to Rob (Earl of Essex)
- 1590 married Walsingham’s daughter (Frances)
- 1593 made member of Privy Council
- Underestimated the Queen (heated debate in PC Queen cuffed his ear prompting his to half-draw his sword on her)
- 1589 took part in Francis Drake’s English armada, Queen had ordered him not to take part
- 1497, defied to Queen by pursuing Spanish treasure fleet without first defeating Spanish battle fleet
- Essex’s greatest failure was in Ireland, rather than battle Earl of Tyrone he sought peace (humiliated the Crown)
- He was tried at a commission of 18 men was convicted & deprived of public office
- Source of income from monopoly on sweet wines was revoked
- He became enraged so rebelled in 1601 to get rid of Robert Cecil & usurp the throne
- 25th February 1601: Executed
12
Q
How many times did Parliament sit under Elizabeth?
What 2 things was Parliament usually called for?
A
- 13 times lasting 3 months each/44 year reign
- Grant taxation (11/13)
- Statute laws:
- 438 acts passed
- Namely Acts of:
Supremacy & Uniformity (1559)
Poor laws (1597/8 & 1601)
13
Q
How many laws were vetoed by Elizabeth?
A
- Refused Royal assent to over 60 bills
14
Q
What element of Elizabeth’s monarchy would she not allow to be debated/discussed in Parliament?
What subjects did this encompass?
What did this result in?
A
- Her Royal Prerogative
- Marriage & Succession
- Religion
- Foreign Policy
- Clashes between Queen & Parliament
15
Q
What was the Parliamentary/Monarchical feud timeline?
A
- 1559: Parliament raised issue of marriage, Elizabeth deflected
- 1563: Parliament met when Liz had smallpox, Queen opposed discussion of succession & recovered
- 1566: Parliament (encouraged by Cecil & Dudley) raised marriage issue again, Dudley, Earl of Leicester was banished from court
- 1571: Opening of Parliament, Liz sent instructions not to ‘meddle with state matters’
- William Strickland tried to introduce radical religious reforms (forced to leave chambers)
- 1576: Peter Wentworth committed to the Tower for appealing for freedom of speech
- 1587 & 1593: Imprisoned again
- 1585: Speaker (John Puckering) delivered news of Liz’s banning of religious debate
