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A Level History > Elizabethan Government > Flashcards

Elizabethan Government Flashcards

1
Q

what was the function of the Queen’s household?

A
  • to attend the monarch and provide her with personal attendants and companions
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2
Q

what were the functions of the Privy Council?

A
  • 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
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3
Q

how frequently did the Pricy Council meet at the start of her reign?

A
  • 20 members met 3 times a week at the start of her reign and daily by the 1950s
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4
Q

what were the functions of parliament?

A
  • controlled by the queen who could summon or dismiss parliament when she saw fit
  • pass laws
  • raise taxes
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5
Q

how many men sat in the House of Commons?

A

462

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6
Q

how many times did parliament meet during her reign

A

13 times in 44 years

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7
Q

what was the role of the chancery?

A

applied the law of equity, not the common law, and was therefore more flexible. It issued all legal documents

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8
Q

what was the role of the Court of Star Chamber?

A

Queen’s council sitting as a court. Most of its cases involved breaches of public order or powerful nobles who acted above the law

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9
Q

what was the role of the Council of the North?

A
  • had wide administrative powers, and its main purpose was to enforce the policies of central government in the regions
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10
Q

what was the role of the Queen’s bench?

A
  • criminal and civil cases were often referred here from lower courts
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11
Q

what was the role of the Court of common pleas?

A

heard suits between subjects (civil suits)

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12
Q

what were the roles of the Exchequer?

A
  • dealt with revenue cases

- The Court of Requests

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13
Q

what was the role of The Court of Requests?

A

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14
Q

what were the financial priorities of Elizabeth’s reign?

A
  • self-sufficiency
  • restrict foreign policy expenditure
  • increase crown revenue
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15
Q

what were the financial difficulties of her early reign?

A
  • inflation
  • foreign policy
  • influenza
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16
Q

what events after 1585 threatened finance?

A
  • Irish War
  • Spanish War
  • Harvests (1594-7)
  • increasing taxes
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17
Q

how did Elizabeth control parliament?

A
  • chooses speaker
  • councillors
  • Veto
  • Arrests
  • Concessions
  • Speeches
18
Q

what is Neale’s theory?

A

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19
Q

what is Neale’s theory?

A
  • 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
20
Q

what is Elton’s theory?

A
  • 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
21
Q

what was the Royal court?

A
  • the monarch’s home and centre of government

- the court travelled with the queen under the jurisdiction of Lord Chamberlain

22
Q

what was the difference between Elizabeth’s privy council and Mary’s?

A

Elizabeth’s was much smaller

23
Q

why did Elizabeth select a smaller privy council?

A
  • improve efficiency

- reduce opportunities for faction-fighting

24
Q

who was Elizabeth’s chief adviser?

A

William Cecil

25
Q

what were Cecil’s roles?

A
  • chief adviser
  • Lord Burghley
  • Principal Secretary
  • Lord High Treasurer
26
Q

why was there a factional rivalry between Cecil and the Earl of Leicester?

A

they disagreed over the queen’s potential marriage and were frequent rivals in political matters with competition between the Dudley and Cecil factions

27
Q

what happened to parliament in the 1570s?

A
  • 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
28
Q

who was Sir Francis Walsingham?

A
  • became Elizabeth’s Principal Secretary 1573-90

- acted as her chief spy master devising an effective spy network

29
Q

what were the problems of government in the 1580s and 1590s?

A
  • 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
30
Q

when was the Essex (Earl of) rebellion?

A

1601

31
Q

what happened in the Essex rebellion of 1601?

A
  • 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
32
Q

what was the significance of the Essex rebellion of 1601?

A

Essex lacked political judgement, but his attitudes nevertheless reflected increasing wider discontent with the rule of Elizabeth and Cecil

33
Q

what were the most notable acts passed under Elizabeth?

A
  • Act of Supremacy
  • act of uniformity
  • poor laws of 1597/8 and 1601
34
Q

how many acts were passed by Elizabeth’s parliaments?

A

438

35
Q

what things did Elizabeth believe to be part of her prerogative?

A
  • marriage
  • the succession
  • religion
  • foreign policy
36
Q

who pressed Elizabeth to marry and how did she respond?

A

Leicester pressed the issue and Elizabeth angrily banished him from court

37
Q

when and what threat did Peter Wentworth bring?

A

1576:

- he made an appeal for freedom of speech and was committed to the Tower by order of the House

38
Q

when did relations between Crown and Parliament start to deteriorate?

A

1593

39
Q

why did relations with parliament deteriorate after 1593?

A
  • 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
40
Q

why did the relationship with parliament break down in 1601?

A
  • due to debate over monopolies

- a compromise was achieved and the session ended with the queen’s emotional Golden Speech (a farewell)

41
Q

why was her government, for the most part, successful?

A
  • 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
42
Q

why was there a break down in governance towards the end of her reign?

A
  • 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

A Level History (25 decks)

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