Queen, Government, and Religion (Section 1 of Elizabethan England) Flashcards
What year did Elizabeth become Queen?
1558
What’s a militia?
A force of ordinary people raised in emergency
What made up Elizabeth’s government?
The court, the Privy Council, Parliament, Justices of the Peaces (JPs), Lord Lieutenants
What was the Court made up of?
Noblemen
What did the Court do?
Advised Elizabeth and helped display her power and wealth
What could members of the Court become?
Members of the Privy Council
What was the Privy Council made up of?
Members of the nobility who helped govern the country
What did the Privy Council do? List 3 things.
- Monitor parliaments JP’s
- Oversaw law and order and security of England
What was the Justices of the Peaces (JP’s) made up of?
Made up of large landowners appointed by the government
What did the Justices of the Peaces (JP’s) do? List 2 things.
- Kept law and order locally
- Heard court cases
What was the Lord Lieutenants made up of?
Made up of noblemen appointed by government
What did the Lord Lieutenants do? List 2 things.
- Governed English countries
- Raised the local militia
What was Parliament made up of?
Made up of House of Commons and House of Lords
What did Parliament do? List 3 things.
- Passed laws
- Approved taxes
- Advised Elizabeth’s government
What was Elizabeth society like?
Very rigid, based on social hierarchy where everyone knew their place
What percentage of people lived in the countryside?
90%
What percentage of people lived in the towns?
10%
Who were at the top of the social hierarchy in the countryside?
Nobility - Major landowners, often dukes, earls, lords
Who were at the bottom of the social hierarchy in the countryside?
Homeless and vagrants - Moved from place to place looking for work
Who were at the top of the social hierarchy in the towns?
Merchants - Traders that were very wealthy
Who were at the bottom of the social hierarchy in the towns?
Unskilled labourers and the unemployed - Had no regular work and couldn’t provide for themselves or their families
In the Elizabeth social hierarchy society, what did people owe to those above them and to those below them?
To those above, they owed respect and obedience.
To those below, they owed a duty to care for them
What is legitimacy?
Whether a monarch is lawfully entitled to the throne
What problems did Elizabeth face when she became queen? List 7 things.
- Elizabeth was only 21, so she had little experience
- Her government needed money
- Her legitimacy was in doubt
- She was Protestant
- She was unmarried
- To pass laws, she needed support of Parliament
Why was Elizabeth’s legitimacy in doubt?
The Pope refused to recognise her parents marriage
Why did Elizabeth never marry?
Her power would be reduced massively - her husband would be expected to govern the country and deal with Parliament
What would happen if Elizabeth married a Protestant?
It would anger the Catholics
What would happen if Elizabeth married a Catholic?
It would upset the Protestants
What could marriage involve England in?
Expensive wars
What is the Crown?
Another word for the government
How much was the Crown already in debt?
£300,000
Despite being unmarried, why was marriage still important?
Elizabeth needed an hier - if she died without one, the throne would be left vacant, which could lead to civil war
What were Elizabeth’s strengths? List 5 things.
- Elizabeth was confident and charismatic - she could win over her subjects and gain support in Parliament
- She was resilient - she could handle the pressure of being Queen after being locked in the Tower awaiting possible excecution due to false claim of treason
- She was well-educated
- Protestant population was growing
- Had good grasp on politics - she understood the interests and ambitions her subjects had
How many languages could Elizabeth speak?
5 - English, Greek, French, Italian, Latin
Why was the Crown in so much debt? List 3 things.
- Over £100,000 was owed to foreign moneylenders who charged an interest rate of 14%
- Mary I sold Crown lands to pay for war with France, so Crown’s income from rent was falling
- Since 1540’s, the Crown devalued the coins by reducing its gold and silver content to make more money to fight wars with France - this resulted in inflation
What could Elizabeth do to solve the financial problems, but what would have gone wrong? List 2 things.
- Raise taxes to boost the Crown’s income, but this would be unpopular for ordinary people, causing unrest
- Improve the quality of money by increasing the gold ans silver quantity, but people would struggle to exchange their old currency for new ones
What did Elizabeth end up doing to solve the financial problems? List 2 things.
- She hoarded her income
- Cut her household expenses by half
- Sold Crown lands, raising £120,000
What problems did Elizabeth have abroad? List 5 things (only 3 are in detail, other 2 are seperate flashcards)
- The French Threat - France was wealthier and had a larger population. Mary Queen of Scots was married to the French hier, she also had a strong claim to the English throne and English Catholics could rally for her if France invaded
- War was expensive - Crown was already in debt
- France ended its war with Spain - a war with England was now more likely (Catholics vs Protestants)
- The Auld Alliance
- The Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis
What was the Auld Alliance?
Frances alliance with Scotland posed a threat to Elizabeth. Mary Guise (MaryQOS mother) ruled Scotland and kept French soldiers which could attack England. Mary QOS married Francis II, strengthening their alliance
What was the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis?
England lost Calais to France, which was Englands last territory in Europe and there was pressure for Elizabeth to regain it. However, war with France was dangerous and expensive.
How did Elizabeth deal with the threats abroad?
- She signed the Peace of Troyes (1564), which recognised Calais was Frances - this avoided a war
- She placed Mary QOS in English custody
- By 1569, only Spain remained a threat
Where were Protestants most founded?
Northern Europe - mostly in Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlands
Why was the Protestant population increasing in England?
Since the 1530’s, many came to England to escape persecution from their own country
What are Puritans?
Strict Protestants
Where in England remained strongly Catholic?
Northern England
When was Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement?
1559
What were the aims of Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement?
- Reunite the country after division of religion
- It could make religion up for interpretation instead of it being focused on one thing, so fewer people argued
What were the 5 features of Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement? Each will be explained in seperate flashcards.
- Act of Uniformity
- Act of Supremacy
- Ecclesiastical High Commission
- Royal Injunctions
- Book of Common Prayer (1559)
What was the Act of Uniformity?
This dictated the appearance of churches and how the services would be held.
What was the Act of Supremacy?
Elizabeth made herself Supreme Governer of the Church of England and made all clergy and royal officials swear an oath of allegiance to her.
What was the Ecclesiastical High Commission?
This kept discipline in place of the church and reinforced the settlements aims.
What was the Royal Injunctions?
The set of instructions to the clergy reinforcing the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity.
What was the Book of Common Prayer?
A set service to be used in all churches. If the clergy failed to follow this, he would be punished.
How many out of 10,000 accepted the religious settlement?
8,000
What happened to the Marian Bishops (Catholic Bishops appointed by Mary Tudor?)`
As they opposed the new settlement, they were replaced.
What did the Royal Injuctions state?
- Teach the royal supremacy
- Report those refusing to attend church - they will be fined
- Keep an English Bible
- Have a government licence to preach
- Wear vestments (special clothes)
- Prevent pilgrimages, religious shrines and monuments
Give 3 things on the role of the Church of England in society.
- Enforced Elizabeth’s religious settlement
- Legitimized Elizabeth’s rule (encouraged not to rebel)
- Visitations - bishops visited churches to ensure they obeyed religious settlement
What were Puritans?
Radical Protestants who wanted to erase anything not in the bible
Give 3 things Puritans wanted.
- Develop own church (uncontrolled by monarchy, no vestements)
- Make world ‘more Godly’ by banning sinful activities (gambling/cock fighting)
- Simpler worship, whitewashed churches, no graven images
Give 2 of Puritan challenges.
- Crucifixes - Elizabeth demanded crucifizes in churches to not upset Catholics - Puritans opposed, threatened to resign - Elizabeth backs down, can’t replace them with educated Protestants
- Vestements - Puritans wanted clergy to wear no vestements or simple ones - 1566 Archbishop of Canterbury required priests to attend exhibition in what they should wear - 37 Puritans lost posts
