part 1: difficulties of a female ruler Flashcards
why was marriage important?
-love
-pressure from parliament
-increase her power and influence
-produce an heir
-join to families together
-money
-political deals
disadvantages of marriage
-if she married an english noble, it creates jealousy, others might rebel against her
-she would lose her independence, people that believed women were weak would welcome a man to the throne
-religious problems, if she married a catholic the protestants might rebel
What would be the problem with marrying a foreigner?
- it would give another country too much influence over England
- for example, Mary I married Phillip of Spain, which caused England to become involved in an expensive war with France
What would be the problem with marrying a member of the British nobility?
other members would get too jealous, anger and resentment
What would be the problem with marrying a Catholic?
growing anti-Catholicism after the settlement would cause them to be very unpopular, could undermine support for elizabeth
why did parliament want elizabeth to marry?
-to produce an heir
-questioned a woman’s ability to rule alone
-wanted to use her marriage to form a good alliance
where did the pressure come from to marry?
-parliament and the privy council
-repeatedly asked her to marry/name an heir but she refused
-refused to even discuss the matter in 1563
describe robert dudley as a suitor
-protestant
-one of elizabeth’s favourites
-made earl of leicester by elizabeth, high status
-made money through trade
-given a lot of land and country estates from elizabeth
-known elizabeth since childhood
-on privy council and had power and influence in government
-previous wife met her death in suspicious circumstances
-marriage would seem scandalous because his ex wife’s death seemed purposeful
describe robert devereux as a suitor
-protestant
-wealthy and owned lots of estates
-wealthy when elizabeth granted him a monopoly as the only person allowed to import sweet wine
-made earl of essex by elizabeth, high status
-fought in wars for elizabeth
-on privy council
-33 years younger than elizabeth
-poor when young
-reckless, immature, ambiguous, arrogant
-robert dudley’s stepson
describe duke of anjou as a suitor
-catholic
-showed sympathy to protestants
-brother of a french king
-family were wealthy and powerful
-could create a strong alliance between france and england against spain
-however french were unpopular due to mass murder of protestants
-estates in france
-time marriage was considered, elizabeth was 46 so too old for children therefore england could fall under french control when she died if they married
describe philip II as a suitor
-king of spain
-catholic
-one of most powerful men in the world
-catholic spain was very rich
-marriage would create an alliance between england and spain
-same rank as spain
-very wealthy
-owned new countries
-large army
-threat to england
-no marriage could cause a war, it did and lead to spanish armada
why did elizabeth not get married?
-her father’s marriages worked out badly so had few good examples to go by
-she would lose her independence
-most suitors were catholic
-marrying a foreign prince could lead to england falling in their control
-may have feared childbirth after witnessing the deaths of motherly figures in her life as they died in childbirth
what was the importance of elizabeth never marrying?
-used her single status to her advantage: propaganda portrayed her as ‘gloriana-the virgin queen’ who was married to her people and country, she put the stability and security of england before her personal happiness
-she wouldn’t marry anyone who would jeopardise england’s position so showed, wanted to remain independent of any foreign influence
-allowed her to maintain control over england
