Elizabethan Government

Question 1

what was the function of the Queen’s household?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

what were the functions of the Privy Council?

Answer 2

• 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

Question 3

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

Answer 3

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

Question 4

what were the functions of parliament?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

how many men sat in the House of Commons?

Answer 5

462

Question 6

how many times did parliament meet during her reign

Answer 6

13 times in 44 years

Question 7

what was the role of the chancery?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

what was the role of the Court of Star Chamber?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

what was the role of the Council of the North?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

what was the role of the Queen’s bench?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

what was the role of the Court of common pleas?

Answer 11

heard suits between subjects (civil suits)

Question 12

what were the roles of the Exchequer?

Answer 12

• dealt with revenue cases

- The Court of Requests

Question 13

what was the role of The Court of Requests?

Answer 13

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Question 14

what were the financial priorities of Elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 14

• self-sufficiency
• restrict foreign policy expenditure
• increase crown revenue

Question 15

what were the financial difficulties of her early reign?

Answer 15

• inflation
• foreign policy
• influenza

Question 16

what events after 1585 threatened finance?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

how did Elizabeth control parliament?

Answer 17

• chooses speaker
• councillors
• Veto
• Arrests
• Concessions
• Speeches

Question 18

what is Neale’s theory?

Answer 18

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Question 19

what is Neale’s theory?

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

what is Elton’s theory?

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

what was the Royal court?

Answer 21

• the monarch’s home and centre of government

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

Question 22

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

Answer 22

Elizabeth’s was much smaller

Question 23

why did Elizabeth select a smaller privy council?

Answer 23

• improve efficiency

- reduce opportunities for faction-fighting

Question 24

who was Elizabeth’s chief adviser?

Answer 24

William Cecil

Question 25

what were Cecil's roles?

Answer 25

- chief adviser - Lord Burghley - Principal Secretary - Lord High Treasurer

Question 26

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

Answer 26

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

Question 27

what happened to parliament in the 1570s?

Answer 27

- 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

Question 28

who was Sir Francis Walsingham?

Answer 28

- became Elizabeth's Principal Secretary 1573-90 | - acted as her chief spy master devising an effective spy network

Question 29

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

Answer 29

- 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

Question 30

when was the Essex (Earl of) rebellion?

Answer 30

1601

Question 31

what happened in the Essex rebellion of 1601?

Answer 31

- 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

Question 32

what was the significance of the Essex rebellion of 1601?

Answer 32

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

Question 33

what were the most notable acts passed under Elizabeth?

Answer 33

- Act of Supremacy - act of uniformity - poor laws of 1597/8 and 1601

Question 34

how many acts were passed by Elizabeth's parliaments?

Answer 34

438

Question 35

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

Answer 35

- marriage - the succession - religion - foreign policy

Question 36

who pressed Elizabeth to marry and how did she respond?

Answer 36

Leicester pressed the issue and Elizabeth angrily banished him from court

Question 37

when and what threat did Peter Wentworth bring?

Answer 37

1576: | - he made an appeal for freedom of speech and was committed to the Tower by order of the House

Question 38

when did relations between Crown and Parliament start to deteriorate?

Answer 38

1593

Question 39

why did relations with parliament deteriorate after 1593?

Answer 39

- 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

Question 40

why did the relationship with parliament break down in 1601?

Answer 40

- due to debate over monopolies | - a compromise was achieved and the session ended with the queen's emotional Golden Speech (a farewell)

Question 41

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

Answer 41

- 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

Question 42

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

Answer 42

- 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