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Elizabethan England Flashcards

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1
Q

Inheritance?

A
  • Elizabeth was a member of the tudor family
  • Her father was Henry VIII and grandfather was Henry VII and both were great kings of england
  • Her younger brother Edward VI and older sister mary were also tudor monarchs but neither had an heir
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2
Q

Why did some people believe Elizabeth had a illegitimate claim to the throne?

A
  • Her mother was anne boleyn, Henry VIII second wife
  • Anne was beheaded and Henry annulled their marriage
  • 16th century England was a highly patriarchal society
  • People were worried that female monarchs could not lead their country into battle
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3
Q

Why was debt an issue?

A
  • Elizabeth became queen in 1558 and inherited a debt of £300,000. This caused her to raise taxes in order to pay back the debt.
  • She took out new loans to fund an army and navy to defend England
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4
Q

Religion in Elizabethan times?

A
  • In the reformation, protestants challenged old catholic beliefs.
  • Puritans - extreme protestants
  • Catholics - very devoted to their religion
  • Protestant - viewed religion as simple
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5
Q

Religious divide?

A
  • Elizabeth was protestant but disliked the extremism of puritans
  • Most english people who lived in rural areas like the north and the west were still very catholic so would rebel against Elizabeth if she banned Catholic beliefs
  • There were protestants and puritans in powerful positions, such as MPs and privy councillors who put pressure on Elizabeth to make england more protestant
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6
Q

European religious divide?

A
  • Two superpowers of France and Spain were strongly catholic and threatened to invade England if Elizabeth did not return to Catholicism
  • Protestants in other countries needed Elizabeths support
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7
Q

Elizabeth’s religious settlement?

A
  • Elizabeth had to decide which religious laws the people of England needed to follow
  • 1559 religious settlement included protestant features: Elizabeth head of church instead of Pope and all churches had to have an english bible.
    And Catholic features: churches could be highly decorated and priests could wear vestments.
  • As a result of this Elizabeth’s settlement was known as the ‘middle way’ and everyone should attend church. Those who did not ‘recusants’ were fined
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8
Q

Head of church?

A

Catholicism: Pope
Protestantism: Monarch
Puritanism: No one

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9
Q

Who should run church?

A

Catholicism: Archbishops and Bishops
Protestantism: Archbishops and Bishops
Puritanism: Elected committees

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10
Q

What language should bible be in?

A

Catholicism: Latin
Protestantism: English
Puritanism: English

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11
Q

What should churches look like inside?

A

Catholicism: decorated
Protestantism: plain and simple
Puritanism: Plain and simple

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12
Q

Should priests wear vestments

A

Catholicism: yes
Protestantism: no
Puritanism: No

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13
Q

What got you into heaven?

A

Catholicism: Good deed
Protestantism: Belief in God
Puritanism: Belief in God

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14
Q

Before 1580 how was opposition to the religious settlement limited?

A
  • Most catholics remained loyal to the pope on the inside
  • However followed Elizabeth’s laws and attended Protestant church services
  • Known as church papists
  • Elizabeth tolerated Catholics and did not enforce the fine for recusancy in Catholic areas
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15
Q

After 1580 how did the threat from Catholics increase?

A
  • 1580: The pope stated it would not be a sin for someone to kill Elizabeth, this increased the risk of assassination
  • Catholics began to plot to make Mary Queen of Scots the catholic queen of england
  • Philip of Spain began to plot an invasion of England
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16
Q

How did Elizabeth’s government respond to stubborn Catholics?

A
  • 1581: fine for recusancy increased by 10,000% to £20
  • 1585: Elizabeth introduced the death penalty for anyone sheltering a Catholic priest
  • 1593: Law passed that meant Catholics were banned from travelling more than 5 miles away from their homes
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17
Q

To what lengths did Elizabeth’s government successfully crushed Catholic resistance?

A
  • in 1588 there were 3 million Catholics in England
  • by 1603 there were 40,000
    -Threats still remained and in 1605, Catholics tried to kill James I in the gunpowder treason plot
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18
Q

What was the royal court?

A

A group of nobles and privy councillors who surrounded the queen

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19
Q

Life at court?

A
  • Courtiers travelled with Elizabeth as she toured
  • Entertainment at court projected an image of extravagance and wealth
  • Elizabeth used a system of patronage to control the royal court
  • Elizabeth granted positions of power meaning courtiers owed all their power to Elizabeth
  • The system of patronage meant that power was based on personal relationships with the queen
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20
Q

What was the privy council?

A
  • The privy council was Elizabeth’s most trusted courtiers
  • Met daily to offer Elizabeth advice on important issues
  • Led by Elizabeth’s chief advisor and secretary of state
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21
Q

William Cecil?

A
  • Secretary of state
  • 1587: Cecil manipulated Elizabeth into executing mary queen of scots
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22
Q

What was the Essex Rebellion?

A
  • Robert Devereux
  • His success as a military commander earned him a place on the privy council
  • His egotistical and rash behaviour led to him being executed
  • 1598: Reached for his sword during an argument with Elizabeth
  • 1599: Led a failed military expedition in Ireland
  • 1600: Abandoned his soldiers in Ireland and forced his way into Elizabeth’s bed chamber
  • 1601: Plotted an armed rebellion to removed Elizabeth and make James Of Scotland the king
  • Death of Cecil lead to factional rivalry in the privy council and Essex struggled to respect Elizabeth’s authority because she was a woman
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23
Q

Local Government?

A
  • The queen and the privy council ran the government of England
  • Each county was controlled by a Lord Lieutenant who was appointed by the queen, usually the most powerful noble in the county, kept queen and privy council informed and organised a local army to deal with rebellion
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24
Q

What were Justices of the peace?

A
  • Responsible for law and order
  • Roughly 40 in each county
  • Responsible for collecting taxes and fines, enforcing the poor law and judging court cases
  • They were unpaid which led to corruption and bribery
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25
Q

Role of Parliament?

A
  • Posed a serious threat to Elizabeth’s authority
  • Elizabeth Needed parliament’s consent to raise taxes which gave MP’s power to push for changes
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26
Q

What did Puritan MP’s want Elizabeth to do?

A
  • Used their positions to make speeches urging Elizabeth to: Marry a Protestant and name a protestant heir
  • Remove archbishops and bishops and allow elected committees to control churches
  • Stop priests wearing vestments
  • Give MPs freedom of speech so they could discuss what they wanted
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27
Q

What methods did Elizabeth use to control parliament?

A
  • Only called parliament when she needed it: met 13 times in 45 years
  • Privy councillors such as William Cecil sat in parliament and controlled debates
  • Elizabeth limited MPs freedom of speech by banning discussion of religion and her marriage
  • 1593: Imprisoned Peter Wentworth in the tower of London after he demanded she name a Protestant heir
  • Puritan MP, John Stubbs had his hand chopped off in 1579 for criticising Elizabeth’s proposed marriage
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28
Q

How did Elizabeth use propaganda to project a powerful image?

A
  • Portraits of her demonstrated power and hid signs of weakness
  • Went on regular progresses so she could be seen by ordinary people however never visited the north or west
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29
Q

What were Jesuits?

A
  • Jesuits were Catholic Priests who were specially trained to convert people back to catholicism
  • Trained in special seminaries in Catholic countries like france spain and italy
  • Their leader in England was Edward Campion
  • Campion and 100 other jesuit priests were hidden by wealthy catholics
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30
Q

Who was Francis Walsingham?

A
  • A privy councillor
  • Had hundreds of agents tracking down Jesuits and Catholic plotters
  • Employed priest hunters to catch Catholic priests
  • In 1581 Campion was captured by Walsingham’s agents and was hung, drawn and quartered
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31
Q

Who was Mary Queen of Scots?

A
  • Mary Queen of Scots was Elizabeth’s Catholic cousin
  • Had been forced to flee from a protestant rebellion in Scotland
  • Since 1568 she had been in prison in England
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32
Q

Why was Mary a serious threat to Elizabeth’s power?

A
  • Mary was Henry VIII’s great niece and Elizabeth’s cousin
  • People believed her claim was more legitimate than Elizabeth’s
  • She had a son - heir
  • She was a figurehead for Catholic rebellion
  • Mary had a powerful foreign support - Philip of Spain-, the french and the pope plotted with Catholic English to put Mary on the throne
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33
Q

Why did Elizabeth not want to execute Mary?

A
  • Mary was her cousin
  • Elizabeth did not want to execute a fellow queen
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34
Q

What was the throckmorton plot?

A

-1583
- Young, Catholic noble, Throckmorton
- Plotted with French to invade England and put Mary on the throne
- Supported by Philip Of Spain and the Pope
- Walsingham’s spies uncovered the plot
- Throckmorton was tortured and executed
- Elizabeth refused to execute Mary

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35
Q

What was the Babington plot?

A

-1586
- Young Catholic noble, Babington
- Plotted with Philip of Spain and French to invade England and put Mary on the throne
- Babington communicated with Mary by hiding coded letters in beer barrels that went into Mary’s prison
- Walsingham discovered system and waited until he had enough evidence to prove Mary’s involvement

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36
Q

Execution of Mary queen of scots?

A
  • Cecil and Walsingham manipulated Elizabeth into signing Mary’s death warrant
  • Mary was beheaded
  • Elizabeth was furious and refused to talk to Cecil for a year
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37
Q

Why were the Spanish Armada launched?

A
  • 1580s
  • Anglo-Spanish war lead to launch in 1588
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38
Q

Causes of rivalry with Spain?

A
  • Elizabeth refused to marry Philip of Spain at start of her reign
  • Privateers such as Francis Drake stole gold from Spanish treasure ships
  • Philip supported Catholic plots against Elizabeth
  • 1585, Elizabeth agreed to send 7,000 protestant rebels fighting Phlip’s army
  • 1587, execution of Mary angered Philip
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39
Q

Purpose of Spanish Armada?

A
  • Invasion of 130 ships
  • planned to sail to Netherlands and pick up 20,000 soldiers before invading England and attempting to reintroduce Catholicism
  • Never landed in England and only 80 ships made it back to Spain
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40
Q

Why did Armada fail?

A
  • Leader of Armada, Duke of Medinia Sidonia, had no experience of sailing and got sea-sick
  • Army was a week late which left Armada vulnerable to attack
  • English used fireships to break Armada’s crescent shape
  • English ships were smaller and more manoeuvrable than Spanish
  • Driven north by storm and forced to return to Spain via Scotland and Ireland
  • Over 40 ships were shipwrecked off the coast of Scotland and Ireland
  • Philip sent two more Armadas to England in the 1590s but they were both wrecked by a storm
41
Q

What were the Gentry’s houses like?

A
  • New country houses, sometimes with over 50 rooms
  • Glazed windows and finely decorated chimneys
42
Q

What did the gentry eat and drink?

A
  • Hosted feasts where expensive food was carried by waiters on silver plates
  • Rich and varied diets, exotic meats such as swan and pheasant, fish such as salmon, sweets such as sugar and marzipan
43
Q

How did the gentry make a living?

A
  • Did not work
  • Earned all their money from renting out their land
44
Q

What were the houses of the middling sort like?

A
  • Around ten rooms over 2 floors
  • Had windows and chimneys, but were less decorated than in the gentry houses
45
Q

What did the middling sort eat and drink?

A
  • Could afford to eat a good diet of meat, fruit, bread and beer
  • However could not afford the luxuries of the Gentry
46
Q

How did the middling sort make a living?

A
  • Merchants, small business owners or independent farmers
47
Q

What were the houses of the poor like?

A
  • Small, one room houses with no chimney or glazed windows
48
Q

What did the poor eat and drink?

A
  • Bread, however, this relied on a good harvest
  • Vegetables from garden could be made into pottage
49
Q

How did labouring poor make a living?

A
  • Travelled around looking for seasonal work on farms
50
Q

How did the gentry find partners?

A
  • Chosen by parents
  • Could choose who they married
51
Q

Elizabethan family life?

A
  • Patriarchy, wives expected to obey husbands
  • Domestic violence disapproved of
52
Q

Sex outside marriage?

A
  • Forbidden by church
  • Most couples got married immediately if they found out they were pregnant
53
Q

Divorce?

A
  • Very difficult
  • People encouraged to re marry if partner died
54
Q

Same sex marriage?

A
  • Banned by church
  • Homosexual relationships had to be kept secret
55
Q

Children?

A
  • Often many woman had lots of children as infant mortality rates were high so families tended to be quite small
  • Gentry paid for their sons to go to school from age 7
  • Poorer families, children worked in home or on farm as soon as they were old enough
  • At age 12-13 girls and boys left family homes to work as servants or apprentices
56
Q

Wider family?

A
  • Did not have strong bonds
  • Most families didn’t live with grandparents or uncles and aunts
  • Many people moved away from home so they did not live close by to their extended family
  • Turned to neighbours if they needed help not family
57
Q

Poverty?

A
  • End of Elizabeth’s reign saw a sharp increase in poverty
  • By 1580s, 30% of the population lived in poverty
58
Q

What were Vagrants?

A
  • unemployed people who roamed from town to town looking for work
59
Q

Why were middling sort and gentry worried about vagrancy?

A
  • Worried that vagrants would commit crime
  • Worried that vagrants would spread plague
60
Q

Why did poverty increase during Elizabeth’s reign?

A
  • Increase in population, 2.4 million - 4.1 million
  • Inflation, increased demand lead to increased prices
  • Failed harvests, 1595-1596-1597
  • Sheep farming, English cloth was fashionable so sheep farming became very profitable
61
Q

What were the punishments for vagrants?

A
  • Government introduced harsh punishments to deter people from becoming vagrants
  • Caught for first time meant they were whipped and burned at the ear with a hot iron
  • Caught for second time meant they could be hanged
  • This approach did not work as it did not deal with the causes of poverty
62
Q

What was the poor law?

A
  • Treated some poor people with more compassion
    -1601
  • Lasted over 200 years
  • Paid for by a tax named the poor rate and managed by the justices of the peace
63
Q

Who were the deserving poor?

A
  • People who wanted to work but couldn’t
  • Elderly, children, disabled
  • Treated with compassion
  • Benefits
  • Materials for work
  • Apprenticeships for young people
64
Q

Who were the undeserving poor?

A
  • People who could work but didn’t
  • Criminals, Lazy people
  • Threatened with whippings and hard labour
65
Q

What sports were popular pastimes in Elizabethan England?

A
  • Football was the most popular sport, Played on streets between huge teams from different villages
  • Bear Baiting, spectators bet on a pack of dogs which attacked a tied up bear
66
Q

What festivities were enjoyed?

A
  • Saints’ days - villages held parish ales which were festivals of drinking, eating and dancing that lasted several days
  • Christmas - eating, drinking and carol singing, lasted 12 days
  • May Day - people danced around maypoles and watched plays
  • Harvest home - celebrated once all crops had been harvested at the end of august
67
Q

The alehouse?

A
  • Most common pastime for labouring poor and middling sort was going to alehouse to drink beer with friends
  • Places of gambling and prostitution
68
Q

Why did pastimes under Elizabeth decrease?

A
  • Parish ales stopped in many areas
  • Alehouses closed
  • Maypoles were pulled down
69
Q

How did Puritan ministers clamp down on pastimes?

A
  • They preached sermons attacking festivities such as parish ales
  • Persuaded Justices of the Peace to ban maypoles and introduce licenses for selling ale
70
Q

Why did Puritan ministers attack popular pastimes?

A
  • Protecting the Sabbath - Should be reserved for prayer not drinking and dancing
  • Stopping Pagan practices - Traditions such as May Day were pagan not Christian
  • Preventing violent disorder- Crowds at celebrations often became drunk and violent
  • Preventing sex outside of marriage - Believed that drinking and dancing at festivals often led to the sin
71
Q

Where did people believe witches gained their powers from?

A
  • Relationships with the devil
72
Q

What did Elizabethans believe witches could do?

A
  • Perform magic to cure illness, control actions of others or recover stolen goods
73
Q

What were familiars?

A
  • Small animals such as cats and toads that assisted witches with their evil acts
74
Q

What was the law against witches?

A
  • 1563
  • Death by hanging for using witchcraft to kill
  • Prison for damage to property
75
Q

Cases of witchcraft?

A
  • Number of cases increased in later years of Elizabeth’s reign - 166 cases in the 1580s
  • 172 cases alone in Essex during Elizabeth’s reign
76
Q

Why do historians believe witches were persecuted?

A
  • Tensions between villagers - Power for the Powerless, Lots of unexplainable terrible things happened
  • Attacks on women - 90% of those accused of witchcraft were women - A way to deal with women who had no husband to control them
  • Puritans - Puritan ministers encouraged persecution to get rid of magical beliefs - Essex which was a place highly accused of witchcraft was a also a highly puritan area
77
Q

Growth of theatres?

A
  • No theatres when Elizabeth became queen in 1558
  • Actors toured the country, performing at alehouses and parish ales
  • Government began arresting actors for being vagrants so they set up theatre companies
  • The theatre companies built theatres in London to perform plays written by playwrights
78
Q

What did Puritan ministers think of theatres?

A
  • Opposed theatres because plays encouraged unholy behaviour and distracted ordinary people from prayer and bible reading
79
Q

What did the London city authorities think of theatres?

A
  • Opposed theatres because they feared crowds of spectators would spread the plague or commit crims
80
Q

What did the Queen believe of theatres?

A
  • Enjoyed the theatre and invited Shakespeare to perform at the royal court
81
Q

What did the ordinary people think of theatres?

A
  • Loved the theatre as it provided cheap entertainment
82
Q

What was the Algonquian?

A
  • One of the largest Native American peoples
83
Q

Who ruled the Algonquian?

A
  • United by a common language
  • Each village ruled over by a different chief
  • Wingina was the chief of an Algonquian village called Secotan
84
Q

How did the Algonquian make a living?

A
  • Everyone worked hard to produce food to make sure there was enough to go around
  • Women and girls grew crops such as sweetcorns, beans and squash
  • Boys and men hunted and fished
  • Villages traded with other villages for goods such as copper and pearls
85
Q

What did the Algonquian believe?

A
  • Did not believe in individual Gods but instead a great spirit inhabited the entire universe
  • Celebrated the changing of season with festivities that reflected their reliance on the natural world
86
Q

What was the Mughal empire?

A
  • Wealthiest and Most powerful empire in India
87
Q

Who ruled the Mughal empire?

A
  • The Mughal emperor in the 16th century was Akbar the Great
  • Expanded his empire to include over 100 million people
88
Q

What did the Mughals believe?

A
  • Akbar the great was a muslim, but most in his empire were Hindus or Sikhs
  • Akbar tolerated other religions and encouraged discussions between them
89
Q

How did the Mughals make a living?

A
  • Most Indians were peasant farmers due to India’s fertile land
  • Many people lived in poverty as they had to give a third of their crops to the emperor each year as taxes
  • Wealthy Mughals could afford luxury goods such as spices, cotton cloth, jewels and perfume
  • Traded with Portuguese merchants who sailed from Europe
90
Q

What was Roanoke?

A
  • First British colony in North America, but it failed
91
Q

What motivated Walter Raleigh to establish Roanoke?

A
  • Hoped to find gold and silver
  • Hoped his new colony would earn him patronage from the Queen
  • Wanted to challenge power of Catholic Spain
  • Elizabeth gave him permission to take land in North America
92
Q

What occurred in Roanoke?

A
  • 1587 - 117 English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island after losing most of their supplies
  • Relied on nearby village, Seconta led by Wigina, for supplies
  • At first relations were good
  • Wigina decided to attack
  • Other Algonquian helped the settlers, Manteo taught the English the Algonquian language and helped them kill Wigina
  • Some settlers returned to Britain for more supplies but when boats returned in 1590 the colony was deserted
93
Q

Why did the Colony fail?

A
  • Settlers lost supplies and seeds on journey
  • Settlers had poor relationship with Algonquian
  • Boats bringing new supplies were delayed by Spanish Armada
94
Q

What did the English adventurers achieve?

A
  • Brought back new products such as potatoes and tobacco
  • Gained valuable knowledge allowing for future colonies such as Jamestown to succeed
95
Q

Trade with the East?

A
  • Increased in last few years of Elizabeth’s reign
96
Q

What motivated journeys to the east?

A
  • Wealth - Increased wealth of gentry created a demand for luxury goods such as spices, cotton cloth, jewels and perfumes
  • Spain - Although Portuguese merchants imported luxury goods from India, Portugal was invaded by Spain in 1580
  • Royal Support - Elizabeth supported trade with East by writing letters to be carried to the Mughal Empire
97
Q

How was the EIC formed?

A
  • Ralph Fitch’s expedition - In the 1580s, Ralph Fitch travelled to India by land and saw the wealth of the Mughal Empire
  • Dutch success - 1599, Dutch fleet returned to The Netherlands with many spices
  • East India Company - 1600, group of merchants set up a company to trade with India called the East India company
  • The first voyage - 1602, East India Company successfully set up a factory on the island of Java and brought back spices and other goods
98
Q

What did the English adventurers achieve?

A
  • Trade brought new goods such as spices and cottons
  • English gained valuable knowledge of India
  • The EIC became the most powerful country in the world by 1800, controlling half of the world’s trade and eventually ruling most of India

History (8 decks)

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