The impact of economic, social and religious developments in the early years of Elizabeth's rule

Question 1

What were problems for the poor early in Elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 1

-Poverty and vagabondage (wanderers).
-Increased population and drop in real wages led to poverty.
-Reformation had destroyed most institutions that offered poor relief e.g the Church.

Question 2

What were contemporaries?

Answer 2

-Differentiated between the deserving and undeserving poor.
-Deserving = elderly, widowed, disabled.

Question 3

How did Elizabeth deal with poor relief?

Answer 3

-Acts 1552 and 1555 and 1563.
-The impacts were minimal as national legislation lagged behind local provision.
-Not till 1570s that the problem was properly addressed.

Question 4

How did Elizabeth stabilise the currency?

Answer 4

-Withdrawal of debased coins and replaced with soundly minted coins.
-Ensured only sound coins were in circulation and the gov did not resort again to debasement.

Question 5

How did Protestants view Elizabeth?

Answer 5

-Saw her as the ‘English Deborah’, an Old Testament heroine who protected the Israelites from their Canaanite enemies.
-Her settlement was undoubtedly Protestant.

Question 6

How did the queen view the religious settlement?

Answer 6

-Merely an act of State which defined the relationship between the Crown and the Church.
-Established the Church’s doctrinal position.

Question 7

What were the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion?

Answer 7

-1563
-Sought to define the difference between the CofE and Catholic Church.

Question 8

Overall, what were the years of the mid-Tudor crisis like?

Answer 8

-Unproductive
-Uncreative
-Strife-ridden
-Inefficient gov
-Economic and social distress
-Failures in foreign policy