Foreign affairs Flashcards
Why did E’s status as a single woman create considerable issues?
It meant that the succession ,should she die prematurely, was at the forefront of her ministers’ thinking
Why were many (ministers?) keen for E to marry and how did she feel?
To prevent the possibility of a Catholic inheriting the throne.
The queen felt strongly that the issues of marriage and succession lay within the royal prerogative - caused repeated tension during her reign
In the early years of E’s reign who did the suitors for E’s hand include?
Robert Dudley - future Earl of Leicester (probably E’s preferred choice) but this horrified Cecil whose own influence would have been seriously eroded, it would also have created other political risks (a consequence of the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Leicester’s first wife - Amy)
Philip of Spain - offered his hand in a polite gesture to E but probably lacked serious intent, partly due to his profound Catholicism
The archdukes Ferdinand and Charles - sons of the emperor Ferdinand but both were Catholic
Prince Erik of Sweden, a Protestant suitor, to whom E gave little encouragement
What was the death of Amy Dudley?
She was found at the bottom of the stairs dead, with a broken neck - it was immediately assumed by many that she had been murdered on the orders of her husband which would leave him conveniently free to marry E - it did the opposite making a royal marriage for Dudley practically impossible even though the coroner’s jury rules that the death was accidental
When did the House of commons raise the issue of marriage?
First in January 1559 - but Elizabeth deflected the pressure gracefully
Why was the situation about marriage very different when Parliament met again in 1563?
Elizabeth had been stricken with smallpox in October 1562 and for a time it seemed she might die therefore creating a succession crisis - councillors were aware of the disasters that might occur should the queen die e.g. civil war, foreign invasion, religious strife and therefore the panic among her councillors shouldn’t be underestimated
What was there no consensus to do with succession and why?
Not surprising considering the significant problems with each of the potential successors- the disgraced Lady Jane Grey and ardent Catholic Mary QoS.
The queen characteristically refused to commit herself while she and the nation had survived.
What did Parliament do again in 1566 and what was the result?
Pressed E to marry - some MPs were prompted by members of the Privy Council including Cecil and Leicester but their motives differed.
What did Elizabeth do in 1566, after parliament pressed her to get married?
E was furious banishing Leicester and the Earl of Pembroke from the Presence Chamber.
Summoning both houses of Parliament for a telling off, thus reasserting her view that marriage and succession were matters of the royal prerogative.
When the reigning monarch was a queen, male courtiers could not normally enter the Privy Chamber so the Presence Chamber was the place where private contact could be made with the monarch so temporary banishment from it for Leicester and Pembroke was a significant punishment
Who was suggested to for marriage in 1579 when Elizabeth was declared capable of still bearing a child and what was the outcome?
Why was there backlash?
A possible marriage to Francois, Duke of Anjou, brother of King Henry III of France was suggested by Burghley and Sussex - some of her councillors and members of the public were horrified this would lead to an infant child- under French influence - as successor - but nothing came of this suggestion to the crisis passed.
What did the execution of her cousin Mary QoS mean for the succession?
That Mary’s son, James VI of Scotland, had the best hereditary claim.
James was also Protestant and by 1600, already ha two sons
Since E’s councillors had a personal interest in ensuring that they remained in royal favour what happened once Elizabeth’s successor was in place?
They began wooing James, even before Elizabeths’s death in 1603
Essex was in regular contact with James VI and after Essex’s death in 1601, Sir Robert Cecil kept contact with James and eventually ensured his untroubled succession, for which he received due reward
To the very end what did E refuse do but what happened anyway?
Name a successor and there is no conclusive proof that she accepted James succession on her deathbed - nevertheless her authority was ebbed away and the arrangements for succession were already in place
Never before had a change of dynasty been effected so smoothly and much of the credit for that must be given to Robert Cecil
What were relations between E and Mary QoS inextricably linked with?
The issue of religion and the succession
How was Mary Queen of Scots marriage to Darnley a disaster?
Where did Mary go as a result and when?
The marriage was a disaster with Mary being implicated in her husband’s murder and a subsequent third marriage to the Lord of Darnley’s presumed murderer, the Earl of Bothwell, set off a brief civil war which saw Mary flee to England in 1567
From the time when Mary fled south to her execution in 1587 what did she pose and why?
A continuous problem for E since some English Catholics saw her as the rightful monarch and she became the focus of plots to overthrow E
Why did the problem of Mary QoS grow worse after E’s excommunication in 1570?
How did Elizabeth respond?
In the eyes of the Catholic Church this absolved E’s Catholic subjects from the need to obey their ruler which scared E and her council resulting in the tightening of the treason law
After the excommunication, Protestants were deemed loyalists and Catholics, traitors
When and what was the Ridolfi plot?
What was the outcome?
1571 - involved a conspiracy for Mary to marry the Duke of Norfolk and to overthrow Elizabeth - allowed Burghley (Cecil) to ensure the execution of Norfolk for treason
When and what was the Throckmorton plot?
1583 - foreign landing in Sussex followed by overthrow of Elizabeth and her replacement by Mary.
Foiled by Sir Francis Walsingham’s espionage network.
Led to the creation of the bond association.
Worsened Anglo-Spanish relations and tightened conditions of Mary’s captivity.
When and what was the Parry plot?
1585 - a plot to assassinate the queen - led to the acceleration of Parliamentary proceedings on a bill to ensure the queen’s safety
When and what was the Babington plot?
1586 - Mary complicit in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth but exposed by Walsingham’s codebreaker, Thomas Phelippes - enabled Burghley to secure Mary’s execution
What happened at Mary’s trial and why?
Mary was clearly guilty but at E’s command no sentence was pronounced
How do English Catholics view Mary ?
She had died a martyr for the Catholic faith
