part 3: religious matters Flashcards
who was mary queen of scots?
-only child of James V of Scotland
-elizabeth’s cousin, her grandmother was henry VIII’s sister
when did elizabeth become queen of scotland, at what age?
in 1542 when she was 6 years old
where was mary raised?
france
describe mary’smarriages?
-1558 at age 15, married the heir to the french throne, however he died suddenly in 1560 so returned to england
-1565, married scottish nobleman Lord Darnley however marriage was unsuccessful
-darnley through mary was having an affair with her personal secretary, david rizzio
-rizzio was stabbed to death in 1566 by a group of scottish nobles
-in 1567, darnley was murdered and it was suspected that mary and the earl of bothwell were behind it
-confirmed when mary married the earl a few months later
what happened after mary married the earl of bothwell?
-scottish nobles rebelled against her as they didn’t like this decision
-forced her to abdicate in favour of her one year old son James
what happened after mary was forced to abdicate, why was this a problem?
-she fled to Cumberland in the hope that Elizabeth would help her regain power in Scotland
-elizabeth unwilling to help as mary’s claim to english throne meant there would be a constant threat of invasion from the north is she returned to power
-instead she had her imprisoned and set up a case to investigate if she had been involved in darnley’s murder
-elizabeth didn’t want to find mary guilty as it would lend support to the actions of the scottish nobles
-she didn’t want a non-guilty verdict either as it would force her to release mary meaning she could try and overthrow her
-inquiry didn’t reach a verdict in the end which enabled elizabeth to keep mary captive
papal bull-when?what?
-25th february 1570, pope pius V issue ‘regnans in excelsis’
-a papal bull that excommunicated elizabeth from the catholic church
-declared her a heretic
-ordered catholics to disobey her laws
effect of the papal bull
-meant catholics no longer had to obey her
-encouraged catholics to overthrow elizabeth
-encouraged other rebels
-along with the northern rebellion, it changed eliazbeth’s attitude towards catholics: now seen as potential traitors
-so elizabeth and her government became less tolerant of recusancy
what are recusants?
people who refused to go to church
what was passed in response to the papal bull?
-the treason act of 1571
-made distributing the papal bull or claiming that elizabeth wasn’t england’s legitimate ruler punishable by death
what was passed in response to the missionary priests?
-two anti catholic-acts in 1581
-increased fines for recusancy from 12p to £20
-made it treason to convert to catholicism
-introduced fines and prison sentences for people who said/attended catholic mass
-introduced prison sentences and death penalties for anyone who encouraged rebellions
describe the problem of the college at douai
-in 1568 william allen (an english catholic) established a seminary at Douai in the Spanish Netherlands to train priests
-he had the full support of the pope
-the priests would then travel to england as missionaries to convert the english back to catholic
-first priests arrived in 1574 as elizabeth’s fear of catholic rebellion was growing
describe the problem of the jesuits
-society of jesus was created in 1540 as part of the counter-reformation and hoped to bring people back to catholicism
-arrived in england in 1580
-jesuit priests were seen as a threat of elizabeth and she dealt with them harshly
-the 1585 act against jesuits and seminary priests called or them to be driven out of the country and many were executed
-those who sheltered them could be arrested
describe the problem of edward campion
-he went to rome in 1573 to become a member of the jesuits
-he joined the first mission in 1580 to lead the catholics of england who were forbidden to practice
-he was arrested by a spy in berkshire on july 27th 1581 and taken to the tower of london
-he refused to recant his religious convictions under severe torture so his captors invented charges that he had conspired to overthrow the queen
-convicted of treason and executed
-made a saint in 1970 as a martyr
what were the two main problems regarding catholics overseas
-missionary priests
-jesuits
describe the ridolfi plot
-1571
-plot led by an italian named ridolfi, also involved duke of norfolk
-plan was that an invasion from the netherlands would coincide with another northern rebellion
-elizabeth would be murdered and replaced by mary who would then marry norfolk
-plot uncovered before it could be completed by william cecil
-ridolfi was arrested and expelled from the country
-duke of norfolk executed
describe the throckmorton plot
-1583
-spanish and papal backing
-led by sir francis throckmorton
-planned to assassinate elizabeth and replace her with mary
-once killed there would be an invasion by the french catholic, henry duke of guise and an uprising on english catholics
-also involved the spanish ambassador
-plot discovered by elizabeth’s spies
-throckmorton was executed
-spanish ambassador expelled
-no more spanish ambassadors allowed in england under elizabeth
-mary put under closer guard as lack of evidence meant she couldn’t be killed
describe the babington plot
-1586
-mary was being held prisoner at chartley hall
-she was losing hope and became resentful
-corresponded in code with the french ambassador and anthony babington, a recusant
-they hatched a plot to kill elizabeth and put mary on the throne helped by a spanish invasion force
-letters intercepted by a double agent and decoded
-francis walsingham found out about the plot but let them carry on correspondence
-once walsingham had proof of may, she was put on trial and executed in february 1587
-made mary a martyr
effect of babington plot on elizabeth
-elizabeth wracked with guilt over regicide
-claimed she signed death warrant but told it was only a precaution
-her council had acted without consulting her
effect of mary’s execution
-removed catholic threat at home as english catholics had no figurehead so lost hope
-catholics abroad shocked
-led king philip of spain to declare war
why did the plots fail?
not enough planning, intercepted by elizabeth’s spies, not enough support as hoped
effect of plot failure
-strengthened elizabeth after each failure
years of each plot/rebellion
northern-1569
ridolfi-1571
throckmorton-1583
babington-1585-87
why were the northern nobles angry/causes of rebellion?
-most still committed catholics so wanted to see restoration of catholics in england under a catholic monarch
-elizabeth had confiscated large areas of land from the earl of northumberland
-northumberland angry that elizabeth claimed profits from copper mines discovered on his states
-elizabeth had reduced power of the northern nobles and increased her control in north
-unhappy with religious settlement
describe the northern rebellion
-duke of norfolk planned to free mary then marry her then have her recognised as heir to elizabeth and return country to catholicism
-plan supported by catholic nobles like earls of northumberland and westmoreland as it meant elizabeth would be succeeded by a catholic queen
-plan was uncovered and earls feared their execution for their involvement so instead they rebelled and tried to overthrow elizabeth
-in november 1969 the earls captured durham where there was an illegal catholic mass in the cathedral
-they hoped for help from catholic leaders in europe but it never came
-they then marched south but a royal army reached them and forced them to retreat
-troops deserted and the earls fled to scotland
-elizabeth showed little mercy
-westmoreland fled abroad
-northumberland executed along with 400 rebels
effects of northern rebellion
-posed a major threat to elizabeth’s rule
-showed the danger that mary queen of scots represented
-created fear among protestants about catholic threat
