Queen, government and religion, 1558-69 Flashcards
Who were the court?
- made up of noblemen who acted as the monarch’s advisers & friends
- they advised the monarch & helped display her wealth & power
- members of the court could also be part of the Privy Council
What was the government like during Elizabeth’s accession?
- Elizabethan government had many different features
- involved the court, the Privy Council, parliament, Lord Lieutenants & Justices of the Peace
Who were Justices of the Peace?
- large landowners
- appointed by the government
- they kept law & order locally & heard court cases
Who were the Lord Lieutenants?
- noblemen
- appointed by the government
- they governed English counties & raised the local militia
Who were the Privy Council?
- members of the nobility who helped to govern the country
- they monitored parliament, Justice of the Peace & oversaw law & order & the security of the country
Who were parliament?
- advised Elizabeth’s government
- made up of the House of Lords (made up of noblemen & bishops) & the House of Commons
- the House of Commons was elected, though very few people could vote
- parliament passed laws & approved taxes (extraordinary taxation)
When did Elizabeth I become queen of England?
1558
What is extraordinary taxation?
extra taxes required to pay for unexpected expenses, especially war
What is militia?
a force of ordinary people (not professional soldiers) raised in an emergency
Why couldn’t Elizabeth I possess complete power?
- she could not pass laws without parliament’s approval
- she could not raise taxes without parliament’s agreement
Why was Elizabethan society very rigid?
- it was based on equality & a social hierarchy
- alternatively based on a structure where everyone knew their place
What was the social hierarchy of the countryside (lowest to highest)?
- homeless & vagrants
- landless & labouring poor
- tenant farmers
- yeoman farmers
- gentry
- nobility
What was the social hierarchy of towns (lowest to highest)?
- unskilled labourers & unemployed
- craftsmen
- business owners
- professionals
- merchants
What percentage of Elizabethan England lived in the countryside?
90%
What percentage of Elizabethan England lived in towns?
10%
What is the social status of the nobility?
major landowners; often lords, dukes & earls
What is the social status of the gentry?
owned smaller estates
What is the social status of the yeoman farmers?
owned a small amount of land
What is the social status of the tenant farmers?
rented land from the yeoman farmers & gentry
What is the social status of the landless & labouring poor?
- people who did not own or rent land
- had to work or labour to provide for themselves or their families
What is the social status of the homeless & vagrants?
moved from place to place looking for work
What is the social status of the merchants?
traders who were very wealthy
What is the social status of the professionals?
- lawyers
- doctors
- clergymen (male religious leader e.g. minister or priest)
What is the social status of the business owners?
often highly skilled craftsmen e.g. silversmiths, glovers (glove makers), carpenters, tailors
What is the social status of the craftsmen?
skilled employees, including apprentices
What is the social status of the unskilled labourers & unemployed?
people who had no regular work & could not provide for themselves & their families
What is the significance of obedience & care in Elizabethan society?
- wherever you were in Elizabethan society, you owed respect & obedience to those above you & had a duty of care to those below
- e.g. Landowners ran their estates according to these ideas; ideally they would take care of their tenants, especially during times of hardship
- households were run along similar lines to society; the husband & father was head of the household; his wife, children & any servants were expected to be obedient to him
What is a feature? Describe an example
- a feature is an aspect of a topic
- e.g. obedience & care is a feature of Elizabethan society
What followed after Mary I’s death?
when Elizabeth I became queen following the death of her older sister, Mary I, she had to find a way of establishing her authority as reigning monarch
What problems faced Elizabeth when she became queen?
- young (21 yo) & lacked experience
- needed support of parliament to pass laws
- unmarried
- legitimacy in doubt
- Catholics refused to acknowledge Elizabeth’s right to rule England
- she was Protestant, whereas her predecessor, Mary I, was Catholic
- Elizabeth’s government needed money
Why was Elizabeth I’s legitimacy in doubt?
the Pope had refused to recognise her mother’s marriage to Henry VIII
What were the origins of doubts about Elizabeth I’s legitimacy?
- Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, had divorced Catherine of Aragon & married Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother
- the Pope refused to recognise this divorce
- when Anne Boleyn was executed in 1536, Henry excluded Elizabeth from the succession, although he reversed this decision before his death
What is legitimacy?
refers to whether a monarch is lawfully entitled to rule
Why were there problems with Elizabeth I’s Protestantism?
- many Catholics, especially in the North, disliked the way Henry had taken over the Church in 1534 (the Act of Supremacy) & dissolved the monasteries
- they questioned Elizabeth’s legitimacy, claiming that she had no right to rule
- they preferred a Catholic monarch & there was a real risk of rebellion
What were the key issues facing Elizabeth in 1588?
- widely expected that Elizabeth would marry, however, this would reduce Elizabeth’s power, as her husband would be expected to govern the country & deal with parliament
- Elizabeth’s inexperience meant that she needed the support & advice of her Privy Council, especially her Secretary of State, Sir William Cecil
- Elizabeth could issue royal proclamations & had prerogative powers, enabling her to govern without parliament’s consent, especially in foreign policy. however, laws could only be passed with parliament’s approval as Acts of Parliament
Regarding Elizabeth I, what were the problems of marriage?
- if Elizabeth married a Protestant, this would anger Catholics
- if she married a Catholic, this would upset Protestants
- marriage could involve England in expensive wars, damaging royal finances & requiring taxation. the Crown was already £300,000 in debt
- yet marriage was important, as Elizabeth needed an heir; if she died without an heir the throne would be vacant & this could lead to civil war
What was the idea of ‘the Virgin Queen’?
- Elizabeth was known as ‘the Virgin Queen’ because she remained unmarried
- many people in the 16th century felt this meant she could not rule alone
- however, Elizabeth had a number of strengths as a ruling monarch
What were the aspects of Elizabeth’s character & her strengths?
- confident & charismatic - this enabled her to win over her subjects & command support in parliament
- resilient - she had spent time in the Tower accused of treason & facing possible execution; she could cope with the pressures of being queen
- well educated - she spoke Latin, Greek, French & Latin
- excellent grasp of politics - she understood the interests & ambitions of her subjects, & was able to use her powers of patronage effectively
- although Elizabeth was Protestant, the number of Protestants in England was growing, making her position as queen more secure; she could claim divine right with growing conviction
How did Elizabeth I reinvent her role?
- was able to use her strengths to reinvent herself as a different type of monarch
- she liked to demonstrate that, even though she was female, she was no ordinary woman
- she therefore argued that she did not need to marry & could govern England on her own
What was the significance of Elizabethan propaganda during Elizabeth I’s reign?
- throughout her reign, Elizabeth was happy to portray herself as a strong, legitimate, popular monarch & a ‘Virgin Queen’ - married only to England & not a prince or king
- this is reflected in paintings of her coronation, which shows a confident but feminine monarch rightfully crowned queen
What is a ‘Charismatic leader’?
someone who possesses great personal appeal & can use this to win people over
What is a ‘Legitimate ruler’?
someone who is legally & morally entitled to rule
What is the ‘Divine right’?
- the idea that God alone appointed the monarch, meaning that to challenge the monarch was to challenge God
- successful monarchs claimed divine providence (Godly approval) of their actions, reinforcing their legitimacy
- less successful monarchs could face charges of Godly disapproval & find their legitimacy undermined
Who were the Protestants?
- Christians who no longer accepted the authority of the Pope & many of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church
- during the Reformation (which began in 1517), Protestants, under Martin Luther, seceded (broke away from) the Roman Catholic Church, & this resulted in religious wars in France & Germany
What was ‘Patronage’?
- the monarch could use the granting of lands, jobs & titles to reward her supporters
- people who received these positions could use them to become wealthy
What made Elizabeth’s reign difficult?
Elizabeth faced a number of financial challenges at home when she became queen
What were the financial differences in 1558?
There was a need to improve the quality of money to help England’s finances
- the Crown was £300,000 in debt & had an annual income of only £286,667
- over £100,000 of Crown debts was owed to foreign moneylenders (the Antwerp Exchange), which charged a high interest rate at 14%
- Mary Tudor had sold off Crown lands to pay for wars with France, so the Crown’s income from rents was falling
- Elizabeth needed money to remain secure on the throne, as she could use it to reward her supporters
- since the 1540’s, the Crown had debased (devalued) the coinage, by reducing its silver & gold content, in order to make more money to fight wars against France; this resulted in inflation, as the value of the currency fell
What does the word ‘Crown’ refer to?
- the government
- which means the monarch & her advisors (Privy Councillors)
How were monarchs able to raise money?
- rents & income from their own lands (Crown lands)
- taxes from trade (known as customs duties)
- special additional taxes, known as subsidies, which had to be agreed by parliament
- profits of justice (fines, property or lands from people convicted of crimes)
- loans (sometimes loans were ‘forced’, meaning they were compulsory & never repaid)
What is inflation?
- where prices rise
- this happened because coins were worth less, so people charged more for what they sold
What could Elizabeth do to solve her financial problems in 1558?
- Raise taxes to boost the Crown’s income
- Improve the quality of money by increasing the gold & silver content in the coinage
What was the advantage of raising taxes to boost the Crown’s income?
the Queen could convene parliament & ask for subsidies (special additional taxes)
What was the disadvantage of raising taxes to boost the Crown’s income?
additional taxes would be unpopular with ordinary people, increasing the risk of unrest
What was the advantage of improving the quality of money by increasing the gold & silver content in the coinage?
in 1560, Thomas Gresham, the Crown’s financial adviser, suggested this to William Cecil, but the Crown was slow to respond
What was the disadvantage of improving the quality of money by increasing the gold & silver content in the coinage?
- any ‘new’ coinage would be traded alongside older, less valuable coins
- people would struggle to exchange the older coins for new ones
What were the effects of Elizabeth I’s policies?
- in spite of Elizabeth’s careful management of Crown finances, there was limited reform
- parliamentary grants were raised locally, with many landowners acting as Lord Lieutenants & Justices of the Peace, pocketing some of the proceeds before the rest was sent to the Crown
- this meant that ordinary people faced a heavier financial burden while the wealthy benefitted
What were the advantages of what Elizabeth did to combat her financial challenges?
- she did not raise taxes but instead hoarded her income & cut her household expenses by half
- like her predecessors, she sold Crown lands, raising £120,000
- by 1574, the queen could claim that the Crown was out of debt for the first time since 1558
What issue became prevalent from when Elizabeth I became queen in 1558?
when she became queen in 1558, Elizabeth faced a number of challenges from France, Scotland &, to a lesser extent, Spain & its influence in the Nethelrands
What challenges from abroad faced Elizabeth in 1588?
- the French threat
- the Auld Alliance
- War was an expensive business
- France had ended its war with Spain
- the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis
What impact did the French threat have on Elizabeth I’s challenges abroad in 1588?
- France was wealthier than England & had a bigger population
- Elizabeth’s cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, was married to the heir to the French throne
- Mary had a strong claim to the English throne & English Catholics might rally to her if the French invaded
What impact did the Auld Alliance have on Elizabeth I’s challenges abroad in 1588?
- France’s alliance with Scotland threatened England
- Mary of Guise (James V’s widow), who ruled Scotland on behalf of her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, kept French soldiers there, who could attack England
- the relationship between France & Scotland was further strengthened by the marriage of Francis (the heir to the French throne) to Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1558
- Francis became King Francis II of France in 1559
What impact did war have on Elizabeth I’s challenges abroad in 1588?
- war was an expensive business & the Crown was in debt
- England could not afford a war with France, Scotland or Spain, as this would be ruinously expensive & deepen the government’s debts
What impact did France ending its war with Spain have on Elizabeth I’s challenges abroad in 1588?
- French military resources were no longer stretched by war with Spain, making a war with England more likely
- there was also the possibility that France & Spain, both Catholic countries, would unite against Protestant England
- Spain also had troops in the Netherlands, not far from England
What impact did the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis have on Elizabeth I’s challenges abroad in 1588?
- under the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, England had lost Calais to France
- this was England’s last remaining territory on the continent & there was pressure on Elizabeth to regain it
- however, war with France would be expensive & dangerous