elizabethan - chapter 3.2 Flashcards
1
Q
how was mary stuart related to elizabeth
A
cousins
2
Q
when did mary become queen of scotland
A
when she was a baby
3
Q
where was mary raised and why
A
france
violence and instability in scotland meant that she spent most of her early life in france, cared for by her mothers family
4
Q
what religion was mary queen of scots brought up as
A
catholic
5
Q
when did mary return to scotland
A
after a brief marriage with the french king, the widowed mary returned to scotland in 1561, after over a decade abroad
6
Q
what was happening in scotland when mary returned and what did this mean for her
A
scotland was going through its own protestant reformation
this was unfortunate, as the catholic mary was at odds with her people
although she was queen, she was a foreigner in her own land
7
Q
what had england and scotlands relationship always been like
A
always been a difficult relationship
8
Q
how was the difficult relationship between england and scotland further complicated
A
because of elizabeth’s refusal to marry
elizabeth’s childlessness meant that mary was a potential heir to the english throne
mary was keen to assert her claim and therefore elizabeth was deeply suspicious of her
9
Q
what did elizabeth try to do as a way to control mary and what did mary did
A
- elizabeth suggested that Mary marry Robert Dudley
- Mary instead took her own cousin Lord Darnley as her second husband
10
Q
why did the marriage between Mary Stuart and Lord Darnley anger elizabeth
A
like Mary and Elizabeth, Darnley was also descended from King Henry VII, and this marriage was designed to strengthen Mary’s claim to the english throne - it infuriated elizabeth
11
Q
what events forced Mary to abdicate
A
- her marriage to the violent and drunken Darnley was not a success
- when he was murdered, after less than two years, there was gossip that mary had had a hand in the crime
- the rumours were strengthened still further when she promptly took a third husband, Earl Bothwell
- Bothwell was widely suspected of having arranged Darnley’s murder
- civil war broke out in Scotland
- Mary was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son
12
Q
when mary escaped captivity at Loch Leven in Scotland (after abdicating) where did she flee to
A
england
-> she arrived, disguised, in a fishing boat at Workington in Cumberland in May 1568
13
Q
why was mary’s arrive to england not good news to elizabeth
A
- mary was pro-french
- mary was catholic
- mary had a claim to the throne
14
Q
why was it a problem that mary was a catholic with a claim to the throne
A
- those who questioned elizabeth’s legitimacy even considered Mary to be the rightful queen of england
- elizabeth did not want such a threat at her court
- she was afraid mary could act as a focus for catholic resistance
15
Q
what did elizabeth choose to do with mary when she arrived in england
A
chose to put her under house arrest far away in the North and Midlands, in isolated locations far from the coast, and from London and Scotland
-> in this way she hoped to limit any threat mary might pose
16
Q
when was the northern rebellion
A
1569
17
Q
what did the arrival of mary in england trigger
A
a catholic rebellion
18
Q
how did the northern rebellion start
A
as a Court Conspiracy
19
Q
who played a central role in the northern rebellion
A
the Duke of Norfolk
-> he was the most senior english noble, the wealthiest landowner in the country, and a cousin of this queen
20
Q
why did the Duke of Norfolk plan the northern rebellion
A
- he resented william cecil’s power as elizabeth’s chief minister and was frustrated
- he felt that his political talents were under-rated by elizabeth and her regime
- he was a catholic sympathiser
- he disapproved of cecil’s unfriendly policies towards spain
21
Q
what was the plan of the northern rebellion
A
- norfolk planned to marry mary and set her up as elizabeth’s heir as a way of gaining greater influence himself and weakening cecil’s position
- at this stage, there was no plan to actually remove elizabeth as queen
22
Q
for the northern rebellion, who did Norfolk enlist the help of
A
he enlisted the help of a number of courtiers, including two of elizabeth’s councillors. one of these was Sir Nicholas Throckmorton and the other was elizabeth’s favourite, the Puritan Robert Dudley
23
Q
why did dudley want to be involved in the northern rebellion
A
he wanted to reduce the power of cecil
24
Q
how did the northern rebellion plan get discovered and what happened after
A
the guilt-stricken dudley soon confessed all to the Queen and Cecil
-> after this, Norfolk fled court
-> when he was captured and imprisoned, Norfolk begged from elizabeth’s forgiveness
25
what did elizabeth do after there were rumours of another uprising (after the northern rebellion was discovered) and what did it lead to
she summoned the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmorland to court
-> they were both catholics and she suspected them to be disloyal
however, her actions were miscalculated and she actually pushed them into rebellion
26
what happened during the rebellion of the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmorland
- on 9th November 1569
- the two earls joined forces at Brancepeth Castle and church bells rang out to call people to rebel
- the rising involved nearly 5000 rebels who moved through the north of england
- they illegally heard Mass in Durham cathedral on 14th november
- they then headed further south, and soon, most of the land east of the Pennines was in rebel hands
- the Earl of Sussex, the President of the Council of the North, struggled to raise an army on Elizabeth’s behalf to deal with the rebellion
- by december, the rebels had captured Barnard Castle
- they also captured the port of Hartlepool on the east coast, where they were expecting help to arrive from Spain as promised by the spanish ambassador, de Spes
27
why did the rebellion of the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmorland fail
- the Spanish help never arrived
-> although they were fellow catholics, they were not too keen on the pro-french mary
- the whole affair was poorly planned by the earls, who never reached the south
- they had not properly mobilised their forces and they had no coherent strategy
- the vast majority of the english catholics and most of the nobility remained loyal to elizabeth
- the pope had not yet issued the Bull excommunicating elizabeth
-> had this already happened, english catholics may have been more willing to get involved
- key northern towns - Berwick, Pontefract and York - were held by the gov
- as the royal army moved north, rumours of its strength encouraged rebels to retreat
- after a short battle, the earls crossed the border into Scotland on 19th december
28
what did elizabeth do after the rebellion of the northern earls
- she strengthened her control by reorganising the council of the north and by confiscating the lands of rebels
- in all, around 450 rebels were executed
29
what happened to the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmorland after their rebellion failed
- westmorland escaped abroad
- northumberland was betrayed by a scottish clan, eventually being beheaded at York in 1572
- the privy council demanded norfolk’s execution too, but elizabeth, out of family loyalty, decided to have him imprisoned at the tower of london instead
-> he was released after just 9 months, in August 1570
30
when was the ridolfi plot
1571
31
what was the aim of the ridolfi plot
to restore catholicism in england
32
who did the ridolfi plot involve
Mary Stuart, the Pope, Philip II of Spain, and the Duke of Norfolk
33
why was the ridolfi plot far more serious than any of the previous ones
elizabeth had been excommunicated by the pope in 1570, meaning english catholics were free to rebel against the queen
34
what was the plan of the ridolfi plot
- for elizabeth to be assassinated and replaced as monarch by Mary, Queen of Scots
- the idea was for around 6000 Spanish troops to land at Harwich in Essex, led by the Duke of Alba
-> it was hoped that their arrival would prompt a rebellion
- ridolfi optimistically calculated that about half of the English nobles were catholic and that when they rebelled, they would be able to assemble nearly 40,000 men
- once elizabeth had been murdered, the plan was for mary to marry the duke of norfolk
35
why did mary stuart and the duke of norfolk agree to be part of the ridolfi plot
- in prison, mary was desperate for her freedom, and had lost all hope of elizabeth helping her to return to either france or scotland
- norfolk, recently released from prison, was keen to regain power after his disgrace
36
who discovered the ridolfi plot
elizabeth’s intelligence network
37
what happened to de Spes, the spanish ambassador, after their rebellion ridolfi plot was discovered
he was expelled from england
38
what happened to norfolk after the ridolfi plot was discovered
- he was arrested and found guilty of treason
- elizabeth was indecisive - norfolk was englands only duke and also her cousin
- she had forgiven him once before
- she changed her mind three times, but with great reluctance eventually decided to sign Norfolk’s death warrant
- he was beheaded on Tower Hill in June 1572
39
what law did parliament pass that was directed against mary
passed a law that declared that anyone making a claim to the throne and knowing of a plan to assassinate the monarch should be removed from the succession
40
what happened to mary after the ridolfi plot was discovered
she survived the plot
elizabeth absolutely refused to consider having her executed
41
when was the Throckmorton Plot
1583
42
what was the basic idea of the throckmorton plot
for a french catholic force, backed by spanish and papal money, to invade england
43
who was central to the throckmorton plot
mary, queen of scots
44
what was the plan of the throckmorton plot
- mary was to be freed from house arrest and there was to be a catholic uprising, involving the jesuits, seminary priests and english catholic population
- elizabeth would be captured and, following her murder, mary was to be installed as queen
45
who discovered what was happening before the plan for the throckmorton plot could be put into action
walsingham
46
what happened to throckmorton after his plot was discovered
he was placed under surveillance for six months
once arrested, he was tortured on the rack and made a confession
he was convicted of high treason, and was executed in july 1584
47
following the throckmorton plot, what was established
the Bond of Association
-> meant that anybody associated with an assassination plot against elizabeth would not be allowed to benefit from the queens death in any way
48
what did the throckmorton plot made walsingham determined to do
to find some hard evidence of mary’s treacherous activity so that she could be dealt with once and for all
49
when was the Babington Plot
1586
50
after the discovery of the throckmorton plot, what happened to mary
she was moved to the ruined Tutbuty castle in Staffordshire and then to a moated manor house called Charley Hall in late 1585
-> here, she was not allowed any visitors and all her letters were checked
-> her jailer was a strict Puritan called Amyas Paulet, carefully chosen by elizabeth because of his hatred of the catholic faith
51
what was the idea of elizabeth’s harsher treatment of mary
it was not just a security measure, the idea was to push mary into another plot
52
why did mary begin secret correspondence with the French Ambassador and Sir Anthony Babington
- by this time, mary had become deeply resentful of her situation
- she had been imprisoned for almost 20 years
- cut off from the outside world, she had lost her throne, her status, her social life and her son
- there seemed to be little hope of escape, and she was also in failing health, had lost her looks and become obese
- she inevitably became depressed and more resentful of elizabeth so she began the secret correspondence
53
who was babington
a catholic recusants from derbyshire who had been recruited by a jesuit priest called John Ballard to help organise a new plot
54
how were letter smuggled to mary
they were written in code and smuggled in and out of Chartley
55
what was the plan of the babington plot
to place mary on the throne and re-establish catholicism as englands religion, with the help of a spanish invasion force
56
how did elizabeth find out about the babington plot
- elizabeth’s ‘spymaster’ walsingham knew all about the letters
- he had placed a double-agent named Gilbert Gifford inside chartley
- he intercepted the letters, which were then deciphered by Thomas Phelippes, who then sent the details to walsingham himself
- walsingham allowed the letters to be sent on to their intended recipients in order to allow the plot to unfold in the hope of finally entrapping mary
-> it worked
57
what happened to mary and the other conspirators after the babington plot was discovered
- on 17th july 1586, Mary wrote a coded letter approving of the plot and, crucially, consenting to the assassination of elizabeth
- the following month, babington was arrested, and in september 1586 he and six other conspirators were hung, drawn and quartered
58
when and where was mary placed on trial for treason
october 1586
at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire
59
what happened at mary’s trial
she had to manage her own defense, which she did eloquently
she was found guilty
parliament and the privy council insisted that she should be executed
60
did elizabeth want to execute mary
no
61
when did cecil prepare a death warrant for mary and when and why did elizabeth eventually sign it
- cecil prepared a death warrant in december 1586, but elizabeth refused to sign it
- only in february of the following year, amid rumours of spanish landings in wales and mary’s escape, did elizabeth finally sign the warrant
-> however, she said that this was a precautionary measure, giving her secretary instructions to not have the warrant sealed
-> the council met without elizabeth’s knowing and took a drastic course of action
-> the queens instructions were ignored and the death warrant was sealed and sent of Fotheringhay
62
when was mary queen of scots beheaded
8th february 1587
63
how did elizabeth react when the news of mary’s death reached her and why
- she was furious
- she was appalled at the idea that she had given permission for the murder of a fellow monarch and she appeared to be wracked with guilt over the regicide
- she banished cecil, refusing to see him for 6 months
- her secretary, William Davison, was imprisoned in the tower of london
- elizabeth was aware of the dangerous consequences that could result from mary’s death
-> in killing mary, elizabeth had made her into a martyr for the catholic cause
-> however, english catholics did not rise up in protest. appalled at yet another plot against their queen, they were evidently more loyal to their monarch than elizabeth thought
64
how did mary’s death cause problems abroad
- england was already at war with spain, and mary’s death maddened philip II further
- the king of scot’s, unsurprisingly, also protested at his mothers execution and so too did mary’s brother-in-law, the catholic king of france
65
how did elizabeth attempt to settle the abroad anger at mary’s execution
she claimed her innocence in the matter, instead blaming her secretary for not following her instructions about the death warrant
-> historians have since questioned whether elizabeth’s outpouring of grief over her cousins death was genuine
-> many suggested it was all an act and the Davison was simply a scapegoat used to cover elizabeth’s own ruthlessness in getting rid of mary once and for all
