Elizabethan England 1558-88

Question 1

Who made up Elizabeth’s government?

Answer 1

-The court
-The privy council
-Parliament
-Justices of the Peace
-Lord lieutenants

Question 2

Who were the court?

Answer 2

Noblemen who acted as the monarch’s advisers and friends

Question 3

Who were the privy council?

Answer 3

Members of the nobility who helped govern the country

Question 4

Who were the parliament?

Answer 4

They were made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons and advised Elizabeth’s government

Question 5

Who were the justices of the peace?

Answer 5

Large landowners appointed by government who kept law and order locally and heard court cases

Question 6

Who were the lord lieutenants?

Answer 6

Noblemen appointed by government who governed english counties and raised the local milita

Question 7

What is milita?

Answer 7

A force of ordinary people raised in an emergency

Question 8

What is the social hierarchy of the countryside from least to most important?

Answer 8

-Homeless and vagrants
-Landless and labouring poor
-Tenant farmers
-Yeomen farmers
-Gentry
-Nobility

Question 9

What is the social hierarchy of towns from least to most important?

Answer 9

-Unemployment
-Craftsmen
-Business owners
-Professionals
-Merchants

Question 10

What are tenant farmers?

Answer 10

People who rented land from yeoman farmers and gentry

Question 11

What are yeoman farmers?

Answer 11

People who owned a small amount of land

Question 12

What are gentry?

Answer 12

People who owned smaller estates

Question 13

What are merchants?

Answer 13

Traders who were very wealthy

Question 14

Explain obedience and care in Elizabethan society.

Answer 14

You owed respect and obedience to those above you and had a duty of care to those below

Question 15

What problems did Elizabeth face when she became queen?

Answer 15

-Young (21) and lacked experience
-Her government needed money
-Her legitimacy was in doubt as the pope didn’t recognise her mother’s marriage to Henry VIII
-Catholics refused to acknowledge her right to rule
-She was protestant
-She needed parliaments support to pass laws
-She was unmarried

Question 16

How did Elizabeth face financial weakness?

Answer 16

-The Crown was £300,000 in debt
-Since the 1540s the crown devalued the coinage by reducing its silver and gold content in order to make more money to fight wars against France
-This resulted in inflation as the value of the currency fell

Question 17

What challenges did Elizabeth face from abroad in 1558?

Answer 17

-The french threat
-The auid alliance
-France had ended its war with spain

Question 18

What was the french threat in 1558?

Answer 18

-France was wealthier than england and had a bigger population
-Mary Queen of Scots was married to the heir to the french throne
-Mary had a strong claim to the english throne and english catholics might rally to her if the french invaded

Question 19

What was the auid alliance?

Answer 19

-France’s alliance with Scotland threatened England
-Mary of Guise ruled Scotland on behalf of her daughter Mary Queen of Scot’s and kept French soldiers there who could attack England
-Scotland was further strengthened by the marriage of Francis II of France to Mary Queen of Scots in 1588

Question 20

Why was France ending war with Spain a threat to Elizabeth?

Answer 20

Since France and Spain were both catholic countries it was possible they would unite against protestant England

Question 21

What were catholic beliefs?

Answer 21

-Pope is head of the church
-Church is the intermediary between God and people and can forgive sins
-Transubstantiation (during mass bread and wine become actual body and blood of christ)
-7 Sacraments (ceremonies)
-Priests are celibate

Question 22

What were catholic practices?

Answer 22

-Latin services
-Priests wear vestments
-Churches highly decorated

Question 23

Who supported catholics?

Answer 23

The majority in north and west england

Question 24

What were protestant beliefs?

Answer 24

-No pope
-Personal direct relationship with God via prayer and bible, only god can forgive sins
-The bread and wine simply represents the body and blood of Christ, there is no miracle
-2 sacraments (baptism and holy communion)
-Priests can marry

Question 25

What were protestant practices?

Answer 25

-English services -Priests wear simple vestments -Churches plain and simple

Question 26

Who supported protestants?

Answer 26

Mostly south-east england

Question 27

What were puritan beliefs?

Answer 27

-No popes, cardinals, or bishops -Personal direct relationship with God via prayer and bible, only god can forgive sins -The bread and wine simply represents the body and blood of Christ, there is no miracle -2 sacraments (baptism and holy communion) -Priests can marry

Question 28

What were puritan practices?

Answer 28

-English services -Priests wear simple vestments -Churches whitewashed with no decorations

Question 29

Who supported puritants?

Answer 29

Found in London and East Anglia

Question 30

What was the religious settlement of 1559?

Answer 30

It aimed to establish a form of religion that would be acceptable to both protestants and catholics

Question 31

What were the key features of the religious settlement?

Answer 31

-The act of uniformity -The royal injunctions -The book of common prayer -The act of supremacy

Question 32

What is the act of supremacy?

Answer 32

Elizabeth became supreme governor of the church of England and all clergy and royal officials had to swear an oath of allegiance to her

Question 33

What was the royal injunctions?

Answer 33

-A set of instructions to the clergy that reinforced the acts of supremacy and uniformity -It included instructions on how people should worship God and how religious services were to be conducted

Question 34

What was the book of common prayer?

Answer 34

It introduced a set church service to be used in all churches, the clergy had to follow the prayer book wording during services or be punished

Question 35

What was the act of uniformity?

Answer 35

It dictated the appearance of churches and how religious services were to be held, it required everyone to attend church

Question 36

What was the role of the church of england in society?

Answer 36

-Preached the governments message (Elizabeth's religious and political message) -Enforced Elizabeth's religious settlement of 1559 -Legitimised Elizabeth's rule -Provided guidance for people going through hardship and uncertainty -Visitations that made sure churches followed religious settlement -Responsible for church courts that dealt with marriage, slander, etc

Question 37

What was the nature of the catholic threat at home?

Answer 37

-Counter Reformation in Europe attempts to reverse the spread of Protestantism -Catholic hostility towards Protestants -The pope instructs English Catholics not to attend Church of England services -One third of the English nobility and a large part of the gentry are recusants -This leads to the revolt of the Northern Earls (1569-70)

Question 38

Catholic challenge from France

Answer 38

-In 1562 when religious war began Elizabeth backed French Protestants hoping to take back Calais in return, this failed as the French Protestants made peace with the Catholics later that year

Question 39

The papacy

Answer 39

-Counter reformation meant the pope was prepared to end Protestant rule in England -Pope disapproved of the steps Elizabeth had taken to suppress Catholicism following the revolt of the Northern Earls -The pope had already excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, this could only encourage Catholic powers to attack England

Question 40

Catholic challenge from Spain

Answer 40

- in 1566 the Dutch rebelled against Spanish occupation. Elizabeth outwardly condemned the dutch rebels and many made their way to England. Spanish atrocities in the Netherlands put Elizabeth under pressure to shelter rebels, who had attacked Spanish ships in the Channel. -Spain was further angered by England's seizure of the Genoese Loan in 1568. The Italian city of Genoa lent gold to Spanish government. Ships carrying the loan sheltered in english ports where Elizabeth seized it, arguing it belonged to Italian bankers, not Spain. -By 1570, Spanish rule in the Netherlands was secure. The Privy Council now feared a Spanish Invasion, as Spanish troops were in the Spanish Netherlands which were close to England. -The presence of Mary Queen of Scots, as an alternative Catholic monarch encouraged the Spanish government to plot against Elizabeth.

Question 41

Mary's claim to the throne

Answer 41

-She was Henry VII's great grand-daughter and Elizabeth's second cousin, descended from Margaret Tudor, was a Catholic

Question 42

The Casket Letters Affair

Answer 42

-A meeting set up in York to hear the case against Mary between October 1568 and January 1569 -Scottish lords brought love letters with them, written by Mary to the Earl of Bothwell, that showed she had plotted to murder Lord Darnley -Mary said she could not be tried because she was an anointed monarch, and would not offer a plea unless Elizabeth guaranteed a verdict of innocent -The conference did not reach any conclusions so Mary remains captive in England

Question 43

Revolt of the Northern Earls

Answer 43

-The earls wanted to make England Catholic again and had lost much of their influence at court under Elizabeth -The main rebels were the Earl of Westmorland, Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Northumberland -The Plan was for Mary to marry the Duke of Norfolk, remove Elizabeth and become queen herself -Dudley told Elizabeth of the plot leading to Norfolk's arrest and imprisonment in the tower -Westmorland and Northumberland took control of Durham Cathedral and began to move south -The plot failed as support from spain never arrived and many land owners didn't want to risk losing wealth gained from the dissolution of the monasteries -The significance of this is that Mary cousins be trusted, Elizabeth's control over the north of England strengthened, the pope excommunicated Elizabeth

Question 44

Ridolfi Plot

Answer 44

-The Earl of Huntingdon led the council of the north and implemented laws against catholics that angered them, resulting in the plot -Ridolfi was was a spy for the pope and in 1571 he plotted to murder Elizabeth, start a spanish invasion, and put Mary on the throne -Ridolfi travelled to the Netherlands which was Spanish controlled in March 1571 to discuss the plot with the pope -Cecil discovered the plot and was able to prove Norfolk was guilty of high treason, Ridolfi remained abroad and never returned to england -Norfolk was executed in June 1572 but Elizabeth was reluctant to punish Mary -This was significant as it confirmed English Catholics remained a threat to Elizabeth, reinforced the threat from Spain

Question 45

Throckmorton Plot

Answer 45

-French Duke of Guise plotted to overthrow Elizabeth, free Mary and make England Catholic -Phillip II offered to help pay for the revolt and the pope approved of the plot -Throckmorton would pass letters between plotters and Mary -Walsingham discovered the plot and his spies found papers at Throckmorton's house that revealed his part in the plot -Throckmorton is as arrested and tortured, he confessed to his involvement and was executed in May 1584 -The significance of this is that it revealed the extent and threat posed by foreign catholic powers