Elizabeth I & Succession

Question 1

How did the public view Elizabeth’s marriage status?

Answer 1

• Over the decades, it became apparent that Elizabeth I would not marry.
• She began to develop a reputation for being the ‘Virgin Queen’.
• It was commonly said that her impregnable body represented an impregnable country.

Question 2

What was the Bond of Association?

Answer 2

• In 1583, Cecil established the Bond of Association.
• This was in response to the Throckmorton Plot (a plot to assassinate the Queen).
• The Bond of Association was written in case the Queen was murdered and had not chosen a successor.
  -It gave its signatories the power to execute the Queen’s killer.
• It gave the signatories power to choose the new monarch.
• This had huge consequences because it meant the succession could be the prerogative of Parliament.

Question 3

Who was the DUke of Anjou?

Answer 3

• Elizabeth’s last suitor was the Duke of Anjou, who courted the Queen in 1579.
• The Duke of Anjou was a French Catholic.
• It is unknown if Elizabeth I wanted to marry the Duke.
  She did appear to like him.
  He gave her extravagant presents.
  She endearingly called him her ‘little frog’.

Question 4

What opposition was there towards the Duke of Anjou?

Answer 4

• The Protestant faction in Elizabeth’s Court did not want her to marry the Duke because he was a Catholic.
• Cecil spread rumours about the Duke to make him fall out of favour with the Queen.
• The Protestant faction applied considerable pressure on Elizabeth I, emphasising her as the Virgin Queen.
• An example of this pressure is seen in the ‘Sieve Portraits’. The sieve symbolises virginity.

Question 5

Why didn’t Elizabeth name a successor- strategic?

Answer 5

• Elizabeth I’s decision not to name a successor was strategic.
• With no clear successor, England could fall into civil war.
• This quote from Cecil shows the paranoia that the succession crisis caused:
  ‘If God should take her Majestie, the succession being not established, I know not what shall become of my self, my wife, my children, landes, goodes, friendes, or cuntrie, for in truth noe man doth know what’.

Question 6

Why didn’t Elizabeth name a successor- plots?

Answer 6

• Elizabeth I faced many plots to assassinate her.
• If Elizabeth I did name a successor, people could be encouraged to overthrow her in favour of her named successor.
• So the lack of a named successor ensured Elizabeth I’s survival as the monarch.

Question 7

Why didn’t Elizabeth name a successor- royal prerogative?

Answer 7

• Over the years, Parliament repeatedly pressured Elizabeth I to name a successor.
• But Elizabeth believed that they did not have the right to tell her what to do.
• She used her royal prerogative (privilege) and forbade them from discussing the matter.

Question 8

What was the Throckmorton Plot?

Answer 8

• The Throckmorton Plot in 1583 was a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I accompanied by the invasion of England by the Duke of Guise.
• This plot terrified Elizabeth I’s closest ministers and they wanted to have a backup plan in case she was killed.

Question 9

What was the Bond of Association?

Answer 9

• In 1583, Cecil established the Bond of Association. (flashcard in the previous set)

Question 10

What were the implications of the Bond of Association?

Answer 10

• Historians such as Lake have emphasised the far-reaching implications of the Bond of Association.
• Cecil essentially planned a situation where there would be no monarch: a republic.
• Cecil wanted to give a select group of politicians the authority to choose the future monarch. This was unprecedented as usually, the ability to choose the line of succession was a royal prerogative.