Government Flashcards
How did Elizabeth promote her own image at court?
Travelled on over 25 progresses during her reign
Portrayed herself as careful and hardworking by toning down the extravagance of court (1563 Parliament voted for an allowance for court spending of £40,000)
Each day, 13 poor men at the palace gates given a small donation (5p)
Royal household employed nearly 1,500 people
How and why did Elizabeth restrict patronage?
Recognised that patronage was most valued when not given out freely
How many peerages did Elizabeth grant in her reign?
Only 18 - fewer nobles in 1603 than in 1558 (no Dukes left after Duke of Norfolk’s execution)
Example of patronage (William Cecil)
Appointed Secretary of State, became Lord Burghley in 1571
Example of patronage (Robert Dudley)
Made a Knight of the Garter in 1559
Made Earl of Leicester in 1564
What did Elizabeth use instead of titles to reward loyalty?
Monopolies
e.g. Raleigh granted monopoly on playing cards, Hatton granted monopoly on the wine trade
These were furiously attacked at Elizabeth’s last Parliament and she agreed to cancel some
When and how did factional rivalry begin to emerge?
Cecil held the most influence since the beginning of Liz’s reign. Rivals arose in the mid-1560s, such as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Example of factional rivalry (marriage)
In 1567, Leicester convinced Liz to reject the marriage proposal from Archduke Charles of Austria, which Cecil favoured
Example of factional rivalry in 1578-85
Debate on whether to send more English troops to the Netherlands. Leicester and Walsingham in favour, whereas Burghley urged a more cautious approach..
Liz eventually agreed to send in troops in 1585
Example of factional rivalry in 1579
Fighting over the Anjou marriage - Cecil argued in favour, Leicester and Walsingham opposed vehemently (both were banished from court for several weeks)
Example of factional rivalry in 1598
Robert Cecil argued for an end to the war with Spain, Essex wanted the war to continue
Example of factional rivalry in 1596
Essex attempted to secure the appointment of Sir Robert Sidney as Lord Chamberlain, but failed. He also attempted to appoint Sir Francis Bacon as Attorney General, but Liz refused.
Example of factional rivalry (culminating in rebellion) in 1601
Essex planned an armed attack on the council to remove Robert Cecil - failed and was executed
Composition of Elizabeth’s Privy Council
Reduced to 19 at the start of reign (down from 40-50 under Mary), down to 11 by 1597
Mainly Protestant
Example of Liz keeping one of Mary’s old councillors?
Kept William Paulet, Marquis of Winchester as Lord Treasurer
Able to continue work began under Mary
Example of a new privy councillor brought in at the start of Liz’s reign
Marquis of Northampton (Protestant)
Who were the main Privy Councillors at the start of Liz’s reign?
William Cecil, Robert Dudley, Sir Francis Knollys
Who were the main privy councillors by the 1590s?
Robert Cecil and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex
What were the methods of local government enforcement during Liz’s reign?
JPs - increased in use, administered the Poor Laws, on average 50 in each county by 1600 (compared to 18 in H8’s reign)
Lord Lieutenants - supervised JPs, at least one in every shire by 1585
What happened at Elizabeth’s first Parliament?
January-May 1559
Settlement pushed through by Protestant councillors (e.g. Cecil, Knollys, Cooke and Bacon)
What happened at Liz’s second Parliament?
January-April 1563 (first session), September 1566-Janurary 1567 (second session)
A large number of MPs urged Liz to marry (even though they were infringing the royal prerogative by doing so)
Elizabeth prevented the passage of bills for further religious reforms which were favoured by Cecil and many of the bishops
What happened at Liz’s third Parliament?
April-May 1571
Parliament granted Liz a subsidy and was happy to support the tightening of laws against Catholics
William Strickland proposed a bill to reform the BCP (vetoed) - Liz’s Privy Council took initiative in removing him from attendance at the HoC
What happened in Liz’s fourth Parliament?
May-June 1572 (first session) - Parliament called for the execution of the Duke of Norfolk and MQS (Liz refused to execute Mary)
Feb-March 1576 (second session) - Parliament granted a subsidy to the Queen, Peter Wentworth imprisoned for the infringement of the royal prerogative
Jan-March 1581 (third session) - Parliament granted a subsidy and the tightening of anti-Catholic laws
What happened in Liz’s fifth Parliament?
November 1584- March 1585
Parliament once again tightened anti-Catholic laws (passed the Act for the Surety of the Queen’s Person, illustrates level of uncertainty at the time)
What happened in Liz’s sixth Parliament?
October 1586- March 1587
Parliament debated whether or not MQS should be executed (Elizabeth disregarded the habits of her entire reign by seeking Parliamentary advice)
What happened in Liz’s seventh Parliament?
Feb-March 1589
Granted Liz a double subsidy - this Parliament had a positive attitude which can be attributed to the recent Armada victory
What happened at Liz’s eighth Parliament?
February - April 1593
Parliament voted a triple subsidy
What happened in Liz’s ninth Parliament?
October 1597 - February 1598
Introduction of a comprehensive poor law
Once again granted a triple subsidy
What happened in Liz’s tenth (final) Parliament?
1598 Poor Law revised, ‘Golden Speech’ delivered, triple subsidy granted
How many acts passed by Parliament in 1558-1603?
438
How did Liz reform HoC attendance?
Fines introduced to punish non-attendance
How were Liz’s councillors influential in Parliament?
Councillors (who oversaw elections to ensure the right person was elected) were able to control MPs - MPs under the control of councillors were called ‘men of business’
e.g. Cecil was responsible for placing 26 MPs in 1584 Parliament
e.g. in 1563, the PC used MPs to pressure the Queen to marry
How did Liz impact freedom of speech in Parliament?
FoS was regarded as a right
Elizabeth sought to limit its application - she made the distinction between ‘matters of commonwealth’ (e.g. local affairs) and ‘matters of state’ (e.g. the Queen’s marriage, the succession or religion). Matters of state were not to be discussed in Parliament unless the Queen invited MPs to do so (like she did in her 1586-7 Parliament)
Did Liz call many Parliaments?
No, only 10 Parliaments (with 13 Parliamentary sessions) in her entire reign (just 6% of the time she was on the throne)
Quote to show this was fine? - In 1560, Sir Thomas Smith said, ‘What can a commonwealth desire more than peace, liberty, quietness, little taking of base money, (and) few parliaments?’
Example of Parliament acting successfully as a pressure group?
Securing the execution of MQS in 1587
How many bills did Liz veto in her reign?
Over 60
Example of Liz standing firmly on her prerogative in her first Parliament?
Scolded the Commons for the ‘very great presumption’ of petitioning her to marry (despite having granted freedom of speech in that same Parliament)
How did the House of Lords change?
Number of peers remained relatively constant (57 at her accession and 55 at her death)
No more Dukes after Norfolk executed in 1572
Evidence of increasing educational standard of MPs
Of the 420 MPs in 1563, 139 had attended university and/or the Inns of Court
This increased to 219 in 1584 and 252 in 1593
What is John Neale’s theory about Parliament?
The power of the HoC increased during Liz’s reign due to the ‘Puritan Choir’ which challenged royal prerogative
What is Elton’s theory about Parliament?
Parliament worked in harmony with Elizabeth, voting subsidies as well as debating and passing bills.
What was John Guy’s theory about Elizabethan government?
‘Elizabeth controlled her own policy more than any other Tudor’
Examples of Privy Council meetings with clear conflict
1562 - PC met to decide whether or not Liz should meet with MQS. The council did not allow it, so she didn’t go.
1567 - the PC’s debate about Charles, Archduke of Austria’s marriage proposal caused Liz to hesitate and reject him (similarly, PC objections caused Liz to reject the Duke of Alencon in 1581)
1586 - the PC were able to pressure Liz into signing MQS’s death warrant
Example of PC working in harmony
1572 - when Liz welcomed the French ambassador, all of her councillors showed up to show support for her
1584 - all PC members signed the Bond of Association to defend Elizabeth
Evidence of a growing tendency towards conflict in Parliament
1563-66 - Puritan Party of around 40 MPs organised to press for further religious reforms
1576 - Wentworth imprisoned
1584 - Archbishop Whitgift’s attack on preachers who wanted to ‘purify’ the Church resulted in a furious reaction from Puritan MPs
1601 - Parliament clashed with Elizabeth over monopolies
Evidence against conflict in Parliament
Parliament only met for 6% of her reign - Liz mainly ruled through the PC without the need for Parliamentary legislation
‘Puritan Choir’ failed to bring about any changes
Individual MPs like Wentworth were isolated
How much money did Elizabeth get from ordinary revenue?
£200-300k p.a.
The surplus was used to pay off debts
Huge financial achievement by 1585
The £300,000 debt left by Mary had been cleared and Liz had built up a reserve of another £300,000
What was Elizabeth’s debt by the end of her reign?
£350k, fairly small given the issues with the Armada and Ireland
How much did inflation rise in Liz’s reign?
Inflation rose by 75% (compared to a mere 25% increase in revenue from land)
Customs revenue also did not rise in line with inflation nor were crown debts always called in (e.g. Winchester and Leicester owed the crown £70,000 in debt)
Winchester’s role in fiscal reform?
Liz inherited Paulet, Marquis of Winchester from Mary
He continued to implement reforms started in Mary’s reign, such as modernising the Exchequer and revaluing crown land
Worked hard to call in crown debtors
His reforms were continued by Cecil when he took over as Lord Treasurer in 1572
Evidence of Liz cutting back government spending
Used unpaid officials (JPs) to implement her laws and rewarded loyalty through wardships or monopolies which came at no cost to the crown
Strictly monitored the costs of the royal household, no new royal palaces were built and the cost of the court was reduced by 50%
Tried to avoid war due to cost
How much money did Elizabeth make from selling crown lands?
£600k
Examples of Liz collecting debts vigorously
Fined religious non-conformists and recusants after 1571
When was Elizabeth able to announce for the first time in her reign that she was not in debt?
1574
Evidence of increasing demands for Parliamentary taxation
11/13 Parliaments called for taxes
Overall, £2.5 million was raised from Parliamentary taxes
However, issues of underpayments as careful records weren’t taken (in 1593, Robert Cecil complained that the rich were able to undervalue themselves in order to pay less)
Comparison of expenditure and income in 1600
The Crown estimated its expenditure to be £459,840
The Queen’s income was estimated at £374,000
(however, exceptional circumstances - Ireland)
