Elizabethan England Flashcards
When did Queen Elizabeth come to power?
1558
What were problems that Elizabeth faced as soon as she gained the throne?
Mary had left England in 250,000 debt
she was unmarried and single
parents were not ‘officially married’, although made legitimate under act of succession’
why did Mary queen of scotts pose a threat?
she had an heir
Had a claim to the throne
was catholic
married into french throne
What were the religious conflicts she faced?
Henry VII broke away from Roman catholic church
Brother was Protestant
Sister Mary was Catholic
What was the role of the Privy Council?
powerful noblemen, 19 men, met everyday, advised her on domestic and foreign issues
Who was Elizabeth’s main advisor?
William Cecil, Secretary of state in 1558, most important minister
Who was Robert Dudley?
Earl of Leicester, trusted adviser and very close to Elizabeth
rumours they were lovers
Who was Sir Francis Walsingham?
In charge of Secret service
advised foreign affairs
uncovered plot that led to Mary Queen of Scotts execution
What were features that made Elizabeth so great?
she was highly literate
spoke foreign languages
married to her people not a man
created the golden age
very loyal and generous to those who served her well
What were advantages of not announcing marriage?
she had sole control of English affairs
allowed options opened for foreign affairs
focus of all power
What were disadvantages of not announcing marriage?
no heir, could plot attacks to over throw, privy council thought unsettle succession made country vulnerable
Who was King Phillip of Spain?
1560s he proposed to Elizabeth, Catholic, good alliance
Who was Francis Duke of Alencon?
Heir to French throne, marriage negotiations went on for nearly a decade, would have been good political alliance
What did Elizabeth do to ease religious tensions?
Created religious settlement in 1559, passing 2 laws.
Act of supremacy
Act of Uniformity
What was the act of supremacy?
Elizabeth was the supreme governor of the church
took power from catholic pope in Rome
appeased catholics and puritans who were uncomfortable with her being head of religion and state
What was the act of uniformity?
made protestantism the official English faith
was more tolerant with people and very few refused to take oath of loyalty to Queen
merged religious aspects
What were challenges of act of uniformity?
People refused to attend church so were forced to pay fines
What was the Act to retain the Queens subjects in their due obedience in 1581?
Catholics who were refusing to attend church service had to pay £20 a month
Why were there fears of Catholic plots?
Spain and France were threats as they were catholic
1570 pope issued a papal ball of excommunication against Elizabeth encouraging people to plot and kill
What was the Northern Earls rebellion in 1569?
Catholics, Earl of northymberland and Westmoreland wanted to get Mary Queen of Scots out of imprisonment and on throne, gathered army of 6000, no match for Elizabeth’s army, many put to death
What happened during the ridolfi plot in 1571?
Roberto Ridolifi planned to assassinate Elizabeth and make Mary Queen.
Had support of Kinky Phillip, duke of Norfolk, Mary
Cecil uncovered plot, Spanish ambassador arrested and expelled, Norfolk executed
What happened during the 1583 throckmorton plot?
Catholic, Francis Throckmorton organised French army to invade and replace Elizabeth with mary, paid for by pope and King Phillip, Throckmorton excuted and Mary moved with no visitors
What happened during the 1586 Babington Plot?
Anthony Babington planned to rescue Mary, Murder Elizabeth, secret letters were discovered to prove Marys guilt, Mary was executed with Babington and 6 other plotters
What was the Puritan threat?
wanted to remove all traces of catholic
Accepted settlements but soon started organising to make it more protestant
didnt get involved in overthrowing Elizabeth
What did Walter Strickland want to do in 1571?
reform Elizabeths prayer book and ban clergy vestments, Elizabeth closed parliament to silence him
What did the Puritan clergy start organising in 1575-83?
organised prayer meetings, didn’t follow Elizabeth’s rules, Ordered arch bishop of Canterbury to ban meetings but he protested, suspended him and expelled 200 puritan priests
What did John stubbs publish in 1583?
a pamphlet criticising elizabeths marriage negoitations with catholic French king, found guilty of stirring trouble
What were challenges to Elizabeth’s rule? (Mary)
Queen mary of scots was her cousin, was Queen of Scotland in 1542, 2 husbands died 1 was murdered, forced to abdicate and imprisoned, Fled to England 1568
Why was Mary such a big problem?
Getting Mary out the country could backfire allowing her to gain support
Keeping her imprisoned reduced her risky but unlawfully imprisoning her could cause outcry and attacks
executing Mary would remove figurehead but could provoke international attacks
What did Elizabeth do before Mary was executed on the 8th of februrary 1587?
Elizabeth was wary of signing her death warrant, signed it but refused to submit it.
what were the consequences of marys death?
france- fearing spain wanted to mantain English alliance
Spain- already at war with England
Scotland- King James on throne (Elizabeths heir)
English catholics- remained loyal to elizabeth
When was the Spanish Armada?
1588
What was Piracy at this time, who were most commonly doing it?
Hawkins and Drake attacked and stole treasure from Spanish ships, King phillip was furious but Elizabeth encouraged
Why didn’t France pose a threat?
They were at civil war so were preoccupied
What was the Dutch Revolt?
Protestants in netherlands began revolt against Spanish rule (1572)
Elizabeth secretly supported
Keep Spain too busy to threaten England
sent an army to help
Who was in charge of the Spanish Armada? What were their supplies?
19th July 1588
Duke of Medina Sidonia had little experience sailing
130 ships, 64 battle ships, 22 huge galleons, 45 converted merchant ships, 30,000 men on board, 20,000 soilders on land, no fresh food supplies, 2,000 large cannons
Who was in charge of the English during the Spanish Armada? What were their supplies?
Lord Howard Effingham, little experience but Drake and Hawkins were very experienced
200 ships- light and fast
140 converted merchant ships
14,000 men on board
20,000 on land
fresh food
200 smaller cannons
Why did the Spanish Armada fail?
The duke of the median sidonia was inexperienced and made fatal errors
the formation plan was broken by English fireships
there were no reinforcements, couldnt anchor so couldnt pick up parmas army to boost numbers
they couldnt get close enough to england
the ships were slower
the cannons couldnt reload quickly
spanish overestimated level of support in england
weather
Why were France a threat to Elizabeth?
she inherited bad relations with france from Queen Mary
France were big fans of Mary Queen Of Scots
Mary lost the town of calais leaving england vulnerable
What happened with poverty when elizabeth first started to rule??
number of poor people increased
no well fair system
divinely appointed positions in society
rising population, inflation
cloth trade collapsed
taxes were increased
bad harvests
changes in farming due to enclosures
What were the attitudes and fears towards the poor?
might gang up together and turn to crime
they might spread disease
what happened to the able-bodied poor?
they were forced to work to prevent vagrants, beggars and vagabonds
they were seen as leazy
1572 vagabonds act meant they would be whipped
What was brought in in 1601 to help the poor?
compulsory nationwide poor rate system, everyone had to contribute, those who refused went to jail
begging was banned
almshouses made to look after poor
What was education like during Elizabeths reign?
no compulsory school, ability to read and write became desirable, wealthier boys better educated, new universities were opened, oxford and cambridge
How did theatre play a part?
there was tiered seating so all kind of ranks of society could attend depending on price
what did the puritans believe able theatres?
it was work of the devil, spreading rude and lewd ideas, associated with romans who persecuted christians
what did higher society do for fun?
read the classics, studied music, hunted, hawking
what did the lower society do for fun?
inns and taverns, drinking, gambling, bear-baiting, cockfighting, cards, diece and racing, wrestling, races, football
who was Fracis Drake?
puritan, hated catholics, anti-spanish, attacked in 1568 by spanish in mexico
Who was the first man to sail the world and go on noble expeditions?
drake, circumnavigated the globe between 1577-80, launched successful attacks on spanish empire, brought gold silver and jewles, claimed new lands for England
Who was John Hawkins?
navigator and trader of enslaved people, drakes cousin
who was Walter Raleigh?
famous sailer, explorer, queen invested in his privateering against Spanish, wanted to establish colonies in north American for huge supplies of wine, oil and sugar
what did a notable expeditions obtain?
Roanoke, organised 2 expeditions the first group came home after a year but the second were left and later disappeared, no proof of what happened to them
