Elizabethan England: Challenges At Home And From Abroad Flashcards
How much debt was the Crown in when Elizabeth came to the throne?
£300,000 in tudor times
What was the annual income of the crown?
£286,667 in tudor times
how much debt was owed to Antwerp Exchange?
over £100,000 in tudor times
what was the interest rate for Antwerp exchange?
14%
why was the Crown’s income from rent falling?
Mary Tudor had sold off Crown lands to pay for wars with France
why was their inflation?
since the 1540s, the Crown had debased the coinage, by reducing its silver and gold content, in order to make more money to fight wars against France.
How could the monarchs raise money? (5)
• rent and income from their own lands
• customs duties (taxes from trade)
• subsidies (special additional taxes) which had to be agreed by the parliament
• profits of justice (fines, property or lands from people convicted of crimes)
• loans
what could Elizabeth do to solve her financial problems in 1558?
• raise taxes to boost the Crowns taxes (however, this will be unpopular with ordinary people increasing the risk of unrest)
• improve the quality of money by increasing the gold and silver content in the coinage (any new coinage would be traded alongside older, less valuable coins which would cause people to struggle to exchange the older coins for new ones)
What were the effects of Elizabeth’s (financial) policies?
Despite Elizabeth’s careful management of crown’s finances, there was limited reform:
• parliamentary grants were raised locally with many landowners, acting as Lord lieutenants and JOPs, pocketing some of the proceeds before the rest was sent to the Crown
* This resulted in ordinary people faced a heavier financial burden while the wealthy benefitted.
What did Elizabeth do to tackle financial weakness in
England?
• hoarded her income and cut her household expenses by half = sold the crown lands, raising £120,000
When was the Crown out of debt?
1574
What the threat from France?
(4)
• France was wealthier than England and had a bigger population
• France had ended its war with Spain so its military resources were no longer stretched, making war with England more likely.
• Under the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis England had lost Calais to France. this was the last remaining territory on the continent and there was pressure on Elizabeth to regain it - this would be expensive and dangerous
• Mary, QOS, belonged to the De guise family and had a strong claim to the English throne and English Catholics might rally to her if French invaded
What was the threat from Spain and France?
- Spain and France were both catholic and could form an alliance against protestant England
- Spain had troops in the Netherlands not far from England
What was the threat from France and Scotland?
• France had a strong relationship with Scotland (another enemy of England) known as the Auld alliance
• Their relationship was strengthened due to the marriage between Francis Il and Mary QOS
• Mary of Guise (mother of QOS) kept French soldiers in Scotland, who could attack England
Why couldn’t England go to war with France, Spain or Scotland?
War was expensive and the Crown was in £300,000 debt, they couldn’t afford a war
