Elizabethan Government Flashcards
what was the function of the Queen’s household?
- to attend the monarch and provide her with personal attendants and companions
what were the functions of the Privy Council?
- chief administrative and executive body of the realm
- advise the monarch on policy
- ensure orderly government and the security of the state. To this end it could use torture during its investigations and often diverted legal cases to other courts
- to consider petitions from private individuals
how frequently did the Pricy Council meet at the start of her reign?
- 20 members met 3 times a week at the start of her reign and daily by the 1950s
what were the functions of parliament?
- controlled by the queen who could summon or dismiss parliament when she saw fit
- pass laws
- raise taxes
how many men sat in the House of Commons?
462
how many times did parliament meet during her reign
13 times in 44 years
what was the role of the chancery?
applied the law of equity, not the common law, and was therefore more flexible. It issued all legal documents
what was the role of the Court of Star Chamber?
Queen’s council sitting as a court. Most of its cases involved breaches of public order or powerful nobles who acted above the law
what was the role of the Council of the North?
- had wide administrative powers, and its main purpose was to enforce the policies of central government in the regions
what was the role of the Queen’s bench?
- criminal and civil cases were often referred here from lower courts
what was the role of the Court of common pleas?
heard suits between subjects (civil suits)
what were the roles of the Exchequer?
- dealt with revenue cases
- The Court of Requests
what was the role of The Court of Requests?
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what were the financial priorities of Elizabeth’s reign?
- self-sufficiency
- restrict foreign policy expenditure
- increase crown revenue
what were the financial difficulties of her early reign?
- inflation
- foreign policy
- influenza
what events after 1585 threatened finance?
- Irish War
- Spanish War
- Harvests (1594-7)
- increasing taxes
how did Elizabeth control parliament?
- chooses speaker
- councillors
- Veto
- Arrests
- Concessions
- Speeches
what is Neale’s theory?
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what is Neale’s theory?
- the House of Commons grew in power and confidence
- members of commons became more aware of their powers
- these developments were due to the arrival of a well-educated gentry class and an orchestrated Puritan opposition group, The Puritan choir
- the Puritan Choir deliberately planned confrontations to force the issue of parliamentary privilege versus the royal prerogative
what is Elton’s theory?
- parliament mostly only dealt with routine administration required to vote subsidies, debate, public bills etc
- some sessions saw heated debate but this was just the way parliament functioned
- parliaments were just keen to represent the local grievances of its members
what was the Royal court?
- the monarch’s home and centre of government
- the court travelled with the queen under the jurisdiction of Lord Chamberlain
what was the difference between Elizabeth’s privy council and Mary’s?
Elizabeth’s was much smaller
why did Elizabeth select a smaller privy council?
- improve efficiency
- reduce opportunities for faction-fighting
who was Elizabeth’s chief adviser?
William Cecil
what were Cecil’s roles?
- chief adviser
- Lord Burghley
- Principal Secretary
- Lord High Treasurer
why was there a factional rivalry between Cecil and the Earl of Leicester?
they disagreed over the queen’s potential marriage and were frequent rivals in political matters with competition between the Dudley and Cecil factions
what happened to parliament in the 1570s?
- the influence of traditional conservatives was reduced due to perceived disloyalty in the 1560s
- Norfolk was executed and Winchester died
- a nucleus of firmly protestant councillors subsequently emerged including Sir Francis Walsingham
who was Sir Francis Walsingham?
- became Elizabeth’s Principal Secretary 1573-90
- acted as her chief spy master devising an effective spy network
what were the problems of government in the 1580s and 1590s?
- several key ministers died in quick succession, most notably the Earl of Leicester in 1588
- Elizabeth was slow to replace deceased councillors, and often less capable men were promoted
- Clashes took place between Cecil’s son, Robert and the Earl of Essex
- Elizabeth wouldn’t allow Cecil to retire despite illness
- great noble families were no longer represented on the Council
when was the Essex (Earl of) rebellion?
1601
what happened in the Essex rebellion of 1601?
- Earl of Essex who failed to defeat Irish rebels had been banished from court by Elizabeth
- he tried to revive his declining influence by mounting a coup against Cecil
- This failed and he was tried and executed
what was the significance of the Essex rebellion of 1601?
Essex lacked political judgement, but his attitudes nevertheless reflected increasing wider discontent with the rule of Elizabeth and Cecil
what were the most notable acts passed under Elizabeth?
- Act of Supremacy
- act of uniformity
- poor laws of 1597/8 and 1601
how many acts were passed by Elizabeth’s parliaments?
438
what things did Elizabeth believe to be part of her prerogative?
- marriage
- the succession
- religion
- foreign policy
who pressed Elizabeth to marry and how did she respond?
Leicester pressed the issue and Elizabeth angrily banished him from court
when and what threat did Peter Wentworth bring?
1576:
- he made an appeal for freedom of speech and was committed to the Tower by order of the House
when did relations between Crown and Parliament start to deteriorate?
1593
why did relations with parliament deteriorate after 1593?
- one of Burghley’s associated criticised John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, for encouraging the passing of an Act punishing sectaries
- the queen took this as personal criticism and barred the politician’s advancement
- Wentworth was imprisoned in 1593 with 3 colleagues for arguing for a named successor to Elizabeth- the queen saw this as an attack on her royal prerogative
why did the relationship with parliament break down in 1601?
- due to debate over monopolies
- a compromise was achieved and the session ended with the queen’s emotional Golden Speech (a farewell)
why was her government, for the most part, successful?
- in general government during her reign was well conducted especially over the first 30 years
- she chose key ministers well, and was rewarded by the services of talented individuals, such as Cecil, Walsingham, Mildmay
why was there a break down in governance towards the end of her reign?
- the coherence of government began to break down as these experienced ministers died and were replaced by less able officials
- a renewal of factional rivalry between Cecil and Essex indicated a decline in effective government
