Elizabeth I Rebellions

Question 1

When was the Rebellion of the Northern Earls?

Answer 1

1569

Question 2

What was the aim of the Rebellion of the Northern Earls?

Answer 2

An anti-Cecil faction at court schemed to marry Mary to the Duke of Norfolk, the greatest of the English nobles. They believed Cecil was taking England close to war with France and Spain, whereas the Marriage would ensure peace, force Elizabeth to name Mary as heir, and force Cecil out

The scheme was supported by 2 northem earls: the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmorland, both Catholics.

Elizabeth heard word of the plan and vetoed the proposal, so the two Earls returned north and raised their followers in rebellion with the intention of heading south to Tutbury to release Mary, who was being held there.

Question 3

What were the political causes of the Northern Rebellion?

Answer 3

The two earls had already suffered a loss of status in the Elizabethan regime, and the failure of the marriage plan ruined any hopes to improve their position

Ancient nobility of the north felt increasingly alienated from court. Jobs that had traditionally gone to local families were now going to outsiders. Earls resented centralisation of Royal power in London.

Northumberland had been created Lieutenant General of the North by Mary in 1558, giving him great prestige in the area, whereas Elizabeth did not award him anything and had allowed his commission as lieutenant to lapse. As a consequence, he was declining in both wealth and power.

Westmorland was in such great poverty that he had to borrow money.

Question 4

What were the religious causes of the Rebellion of the Northern Earls?

Answer 4

Official aim of the rebellion was to resist the new religion

Resentment at the appointment of a protestant Bishop of Durham

Gathered around him a group of senior protestant clergy who were aggressive in enacting change. they assaulted church images, removed church furniture, and led a drive to regain church lands that had been leased out

Resentment over influx of Militant protestants into the diocese of Durham

Two of the leading agitators of the rebellion, Markenfeld and Norton, were motivated by religious fervour, having been exposed to the Counter Reformation on trips abroad

Catholicism was still very strong in the north

Question 5

What are the arguments against religion being a major cause of the Northern Rebellion?

Answer 5

Earls could have used religion to disguise their own political goals

Lack of confusion and fear of the unknown as there had been during the Reformation made people less inclined to rebel for religious reasons.

Rebellion in the name of religion risked Elizabeth taking extreme action against Catholics.

Question 6

What religious action was taken in the Rebellion of the Northern Earls and elsewhere in the North?

Answer 6

Entered Durham Cathedral carrying a banner depicting the Five Wounds of Christ (as in the Pilgrimage of Grace) and destroyed English Bibles, set up store altars, and reinstated mass in Latin.

Popular religious action was also being undertaken elsewhere in the north - the protestant service book was destroyed in ~70 churches in Yorkshire and 8 in Durham and mass was restored in at least 6 Yorkshire churches and a further 8 in Durham

Question 7

How did leaders of the Northern Rebellion raise support?

Answer 7

Religious propaganda
Offer of wages
Threat of force
Bastard feudalism - sons of gentry families served as retainers of the Earls

Question 8

Why did the Northern Rebellion fail?

Answer 8

Heavily dependent on the leadership of the two Earls - hence difficult to gather support in areas where they were not well known/lacked influence. Problem as they marched further south towards Tutbury.

The Earls lacked attributes of strong leaders - determination and presence. Conveyed image of being driven into rebellion out of despair rather than drive, Which was not confidence- inspiring for supporters

Were only able to gather a force of 5-6,000 men and some began to desert when they didn’t receive their pay

Lack of foreign support - Had hoped for foreign assistance and had secured Hartlepool in the hope that Spanish troops would land there. However no foreign support arrived - Philip was unlikely to help in any case as it would mean putting a pro-French monarch on the English throne

Gvmt action (see next card)

Question 9

How was the government able to suppress the Northern Rebellion?

Answer 9

Monarchy was influential in the north after reducing the power of many great northern families. Elizabeth had many of her own men in the north, eg. Gargrave and Berwick, who helped contain the rising and limit the numbers joining the rebels

In Lancashire and Cheshire, which the rebels had to march through to get to Tutbury, Elizabeth had the loyalty of important local figures like the Bishop or Carlisle and the Earl of Shrewsbury, both of which were quite popular with the local catholic communities

Government had been able to raise a force of 10,000 men, well outnumbering the rebels

At first news of a royal force, many rebels fled

Question 10

Why did religion play a part in the failure of the Rebellion of the Northern Earls?

Answer 10

Religion was no longer a sufficient enough motive to attract large-scale support.

Fear of the unknown, as in the reformation, was not present as it had been in the Reformation, when people didn’t know what religious reform would bring

Many well-known Catholic nobles didn’t join the rebellion as they recognised there was more to lose than to gain in getting involved

Many Catholics were unwilling to risk their lives and fortunes as they were barely being persecuted under Elizabeth. Their status and prestige were reasonably secure, but a rebellion might destroy all.

Question 11

When was the Oxfordshire Rising?

Answer 11

1596

Question 12

What were the causes of the Oxfordshire Rising?

Answer 12

Main cause: Anger over enclosure
Subsidiary causes:
- Economic problems
- Famine caused by bad harvest
- Falling wages
- Rising population putting strain on land
- Epidemics

Question 13

What was the economic situation leading up to the Oxfordshire Rising ?

Answer 13

Much of England sufferred economic distress that year

3 successive bad harvests (1596 was third and also the worst harvest for 40 years) - Led to food riots in SE and SW and threat of famine

Taxation was high to finance the war with Spain

Question 14

Why did enclosure trigger the Oxfordshire Rising?

Answer 14

New enclosures at Hampton Gayer and Hampton Poyle, both close to the rebellion site

Rumours of fencing off common Iand in Oxfordshire the year before

Question 15

What was the aim of the Oxfordshire Rising?

Answer 15

March on the house of Lord Norris, the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, take his arms, and march on London

Also planned to murder 7 local landowners involved in enclosing common land

Authorities feared their plans extended to attacking other local gentry and their property

Question 16

What ended up happening in the Oxfordshire Rising?

Answer 16

Only 4 rebels showed up on top of Enslow Hill. They waited 2 hours and dispersed when it became clear noone else was going to join them

The rebels had been betrayed when one of the men they had approached told his lord of their plans

Question 17

What was the government’s reaction to the Oxfordshire Rising?

Answer 17

Ringleaders (including one who hadn’t even shown up to the hill upon having second thoughts) were arrested soon afterwards - brought to London and tortured to discover what their plans had been and how serious a threat they posed

All plotters were tortured to establish if there was a conspiracy

All 5 were charged with treason and 2 were hung, drawn, and quartered

Authorities ordered Lord Norris to make further enquiries and arrests

In the aftermath, the Privy Council did prosecute several local Landowners for illegally enclosing land and had the enclosed land restored to common use

Question 18

Why did the government act so harshly after the Oxfordshire Rising?

Answer 18

Gave them the opportunity to demonstrate the power of the state - display of force discouraged future rebels

Rebellion had extreme aims despite not achieving them - planned murder. Alerted government to the extent of dissatisfaction of the commons about economic issues and the lengths they could go to to protest this

Question 19

Why did the Oxfordshire Rising fail?

Answer 19

Failed to recruit enough men - didn’t receive backing from nobles and members of the gentry who would have attracted support. They recognised there was more to be gained in terms of patronage by supporting the state

State security was good - Once one man approached his master about the plans, the ringleaders were quickly rounded up

Question 20

What takeaway about the Tudor State can be obtained by looking at the Oxfordshire Rising?

Answer 20

Given the amount of economic hardship throughout England at the time, the fact that this was the only rebellion that emerged shows the grip the Tudor state had on its people

Question 21

When was the Essex Rebellion?

Answer 21

1601

Question 22

What was the background behind the Essex rebellion?

Answer 22

The Earl of Essex had, at one point, been Elizabeth’s favourite courtier. However, his attempts to rule the court and rival the policies of the Cecils turned the Queen against him.

He was struck across the face and dismissed from court by Elizabeth after opposing her nomination for new Lord Deputy in Ireland.

His position declined as he now had no access to the Queen, meaning he was unable to obtain rewards and promotions for his supporters.

Briefly reconciled with Elizabeth in October 1598 following the death of William Cecil and was appointed Lieutenant in Ireland.

BUT, damaged his career by being absent from Ireland, facing many military defeats in Ireland, and controversially conducting campaigns in Ireland.

Desperate to regain influence, he left his post without permission in September 1599 and burst unannounced into Elizabeth’s bedchamber. He was subsequently charged with maladministration and abandoning his command, was suspended from the Privy Council, and placed on house arrest.

Essex had two choices: retire from public life or try to seize power.

Question 23

What was the aim of the Essex Rebellion?

Answer 23

Enact a coup

Planned to seize Whitehall, where Elizabeth was, and the Tower in order to use it as a military base. Then, a parliament would be called, the Privy Council purged, and the succession guaranteed to James VI of Scotland

Essex wanted to improve his position by gaining credit with the new king for having helped with his accession

The plan was suspected so a new scheme was devised to stage a large-scale demonstration in London.

Question 24

What happened in the Essex Rebellion?

Answer 24

Only 300 supporters showed up at Essex’s home. 4 Privy Councillors arrived with a message of conciliation from the Queen, but they were taken hostage.

Essex and his supporters went to the Sheriff’s house where they expected to obtain reinforcements, but the Sheriff refused to help and left to defend the city

Barricades were erected, reinforcements were called, and Essex was proclaimed a traitor. He was encircled and had to force his way back to his house.

The rebellion lasted only 12 hours

Question 25

Why did the Essex Rebellion fail?

Answer 25

Although many disliked the influence and power of the Cecils, they were not on organised group and only a small number followed Essex into rebellion

Was deserted by many of his old friends because or a realisation that armed rising was no longer a viable way to achieve goals

Essex lacked feudal ties that had given earlier aristocratic rebellions support

Too many people had a vested interest in the survival of the Tudor regime to put their support behind a desperate man

Question 26

Generally, how much threat was posed to the monarchy by rebellions in the Elizabethan era?

Answer 26

Not a significant threat

Many who may have become involved with rebellion had been given administrative positions by Elizabeth and so moved away from violence as a way of resolving issues.

There were now other ways for the gentry to show their disapproval of royal policy, through airing complaints in parliament

The image of rebellion had declined - was now only the last resort for the weak and powerless