Elizabethan England - Paper 2 Flashcards
How was elizabethan england governed ?
- court : body of people who lived in the same house as the monarch
- privy council : 19 leaders leaders courtiers
- parliament : house of lords and commons
What was the religious settlement -1559 ?
Elizabeth tried to follow a middle way in religion which both catholics and protestants could accept . The act of uniformity and act of supremecy . Priests took an oath of supremacy
What was the act of supremecy ?
This made Elizabeth supreme governor of the church of england removing power from the catholic pope
What was the act of uniformity ?
This made protestantism englands official religion, setting out rules for churches, prayer book and kept some catholic traditions
How were the puritans a challange to the religious settlement ?
The main problem were with the use of crucifixes and vestements
How were catholics a challange to the religious settlement ?
The pope instructed catholics to not attend church services . Many pf the english nobility in the north were rescusants ( catholics that refused to go to elizabeth church services) this lead to the revolt of the northern earls
How were foreign power a challenge to the religious settlement ?
Foreign powers : protestantism was rising in europe but many leading catholic powers (mainly france and spain) were a threat to elizabeths settlement . Religious war broke out in france in 1562 and elizabeth was worried about this threatening her position . The dutch revolt was a clear threat to elizabeth
Why was Mary , Queen of scots such a massive problem ?
- many catholics saw mary as the legitimate monarch ( elizabeths second cousin ) mary arrived in England in 1568 after the protestant scottish nobles revolted after the suspicious death of her husband
- elizabeth was unsure what to do with mary so she decided to keep her captive in england
What was the ridolfi plot ? When was it ? What was the result of it ?
- 1571
- robert ridolfi was a banker who wanted to murder elizabeth and wanted a spaniish invasion and mary queen of scots on the throne
- ridolfi , phillip II and duke of alba plan invasion with duke of norfolk but cecil intercepted letter and norfolk executed
- elizabeth tried to improve relations with france and threat posed by mary and spain
What was the throckmorton plot ? When was it ? What was it ? What was the results ?
- 1583
- Duke of Guise , marys cousin to invade and overthrow elizabeth . Francis Throckmorton acted as go-between
- walsingham uncovered the plot . Papers found at throckmortons house and he was tourtured and executed in 1584
- Again rienforced threat from spain and mary and more harsher laws against catholics
What was the babington plot ? When was it ? What was the results ?
- 1586
- duke of Guise would again invade and athony babington wrote to mary about it
- Walsingham intercepted the letters and deciphered the codes within them . Babington executed
- elizabeths government became determined to crush catholicism . Mary was sentenced to death in Febuary 1587
Why was Mary queen of scots executed ? (3)
- Act for preservation of the Queens safety : barred mary from the succession and allowed for her to be put on trial
- Walsingham had provided clear evidence that she was involved in plotting against elizabeth
- rumors of a attack from spain reinforced the threat mary posed
What was the significance of Mary , Queen of scots’ execution ?
- impact on elizabeth - she was very upset by the execution but it shows her new harsh treatment of catholics . An important threat removed
- impact on english catholics - angered by the execution , they have now lost their hope of a catholic monarch
- impact on relationships with spain - already bad , worse by the execution . Gives phillip II another reason to want to remove elizabeth
What was the massive political and religious rivalry between elizabeth and phillip ?
- elizabeth refused to mary phillip
- phillip saw himself as the leading catholic monarch
- english support for dutch rebels was also a significant factor
What was the commercial rivalry between elizabeth and phillip ?
Many english merchants attacked spain ships and ports - francis drake was the most famous privateer who stole large amounts from spain
What was : Drake and the raid on cadiz ?
April 1587 - drake sailed into Cadiz Harbour and destroyed 30 spanish ships and a large amount of their supplies
Why was it good that england knew spain were going to attack ?
Spain delyaed their preparations by a year and this gave the english more time to prepare
What are the reasons for the defeat of the armada ?
- english galleons ( quicker , able to carry guns more efficently )
- english cannons ( could be reloaded more quickly
- spanish supplies ( rotting food , poor cannons)
- unreliable communications between spanish (medina-sidonia and parma)
- english tactics - 6x more firepower ,created spanish panic
- weather finally destroyed the armada
What were the consequences of the armada’s defeat ?
- great propaganda victory
- great boost to english pride
- Dutch rebels were encouraged to renew their fight
- showed strength and skill of english navy
- defeat cost spain alot , financially and politically and marked the beginning of a decline in fortune
What were the reasons for the increase in poverty and vagabondage during these years ?
- increased population
- rising food prices
- more people forced to move cities to look for work
What were the policies towards the poor ?
1563 statute of artificers - to collect poor relief money , more harsh treatement for beggers
1572 vagabonds act - to deter vagarancy . Beggars sent to houses of correction
1576 - poor relief act - help people find work and elderly homes to live in
What did these laws show ?
Poverty was a problem during elizabeths reign .
- theselaws recognised that unemployment was a problem that needed to be solved and that people were not unemploed out of laziness
What were the 2 opinions about poverty ?
- impotent poor ( deserving poor ) - unable to work through no fault of their own
- able poor (idle poor) - able to work but not willing to do so - these people were treated more harshly
