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
