The life of Liz

Question 1

When did Elizabeth contract smallpox and almost die?

Answer 1

October 1562 the queen nearly died of smallpox,

Question 2

What did Elizabeth once angrily say to Leicester when he tried to push her into marriage?

Answer 2

“I will have here but one mistress and no master.”

Question 3

What were the two acts passed by parliament in 1559 which confirmed England as a protestant country?

Answer 3

• The Act of Supremacy, (revived the antipapal statutes of Henry VIII and declared the queen supreme governor of the church).
• The Act of Uniformity (established a slightly revised version of the second Edwardian prayer book as the official order of worship).

Question 4

In what year was Elizabeth excommunicated by Pope Pius V?

Answer 4

1570

Question 5

Which teacher was named as the Latin secretary for Mary, Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey and helped Elizabeth pursue the study of Greek?

Answer 5

Roger Ascham

Question 6

What was the name of the palace at Greenwich were Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I were born?

Answer 6

Placentia

Question 7

How many years was Mary Queen of Scots kept prisoner in England.

Answer 7

19 years

Question 8

How much were wars estimated to have cost during Elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 8

Wars during Elizabeth’s reign are estimated to have cost over £5 million

Question 9

How many times did the House of Commons sit during Elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 9

There were only 16 sittings of the Commons during Elizabeth’s reign, five of which were in the period 1588-1601.

Question 10

What did Elizabeth say was a “jewel” in her Golden Speech of 1601?

Answer 10

Elizabeth told MPs: ‘There is no jewel, be it of never so high a price, which I set before this jewel; I mean your love.’

Question 11

Who said of Elizabeth “Her mind has no womanly weakness,’

Answer 11

Her tutor, Roger Ascham

Question 12

Which parliamentary act legitimized Mary and Elizabeth?

Answer 12

The 1536 ‘Second Act of Succession’

Question 13

What were Elizabeth and Mary’s titles when they had been legitimised?

Answer 13

The lady Elizabeth’ and ‘the lady Mary’. This was often followed by the explanatory ‘the king’s daughter.’

Question 14

How much money was each daughter left in Henry’s will?

Answer 14

£3000 a year, the same amount for each daughter.

Question 15

Where did Elizabeth live when Henry died?

Answer 15

First to Katharine Parr’s home in Chelsea, then to Hatfield House in May 1548

Question 16

What were the names of Elizabeth’s governess and treasurer (cofferer) who were sent to the tower in 1549?

Answer 16

Kat Ashley and Thomas Parry

Question 17

Why were Elizabeth’s servants sent to the tower in 1549?

Answer 17

After Katherine Parr died in childbirth, her husband Thomas Seymour planned to marry Elizabeth. Her servants were arrested to force her confession.

Question 18

Elizabeth is said to have spoken the words ‘A Domino factum est illud et est mirabile in oculis nostris’ when told of Mary’s death. What do they mean?

Answer 18

‘This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in Our eyes.’

Question 19

What were some of the problems encountered under Mary’s reign which left the country impoverished?

Answer 19

• Religious and political confusion.
• England had been beset by droughts which had plagued farmers led to high prices and much poverty.
• Most of the poor flocked to London where they crowded into ever-expanding slums.
• Mary’s attempts to reform the debased currency of Henry VIII and Edward VI’s reign had been somewhat successful, but England was still considered a poor credit risk on the Continent.

Question 20

What did Elizabeth chose as her motto and what did it mean?

Answer 20

Elizabeth chose as her motto ‘Semper Eadem’ (‘Always the Same’). It exemplified her quest for stability and prosperity and became the guiding force of her reign.

Question 21

How did Mary Queen of Scots openly show that she laid claim to the throne of England?

Answer 21

She choose to quarter the royal arms of England, Wales and Ireland upon her heraldry.

Question 22

Who did Elizabeth put in charge of her coronation plans?

Answer 22

Robert Dudley

Question 23

What did Elizabeth say as she approached the Tower with Robert Dudley prior to her coronation?

Answer 23

‘Some have fallen from being Princes of this land to be prisoners in this place; I am raised from being prisoner in this place to be Prince of this land.’

Question 24

How did Elizabeth help to prevent further religious turmoil when she became queen?

Answer 24

For Elizabeth, her citizens were Englishmen first; their religious loyalties – whether Catholic or Protestant – were to remain subservient to their loyalty to her as queen of England.

Question 25

What were Elizabeth’s feelings about Puritans?

Answer 25

Elizabeth remarked that she preferred loyal Catholics to Puritans (Protestant extremists). She recognized that, by the end of her reign, most of her Catholic subjects were loyal to her instead of the pope (despite her excommunication) and accepted royal prerogative. Her Puritan subjects, however, did not recognize the sanctity of the crown, and their presence in Parliament ensured a steady erosion of royal power. The end result of this conflict occurred during the reign of Charles I, when a powerful Puritan populace revolted against their Catholic king and beheaded him.

Question 26

What was unique about Elizabeth’s coronation which accurately reflected the religious confusion of mid-16th century England?

Answer 26

The Mass was said in Latin; the epistle and gospel were read in Latin and English; and the coronation oath itself was read from an English Bible.

Question 27

Why was Elizabeth crowned by Owen Oglethorpe, the bishop of Carlisle?

Answer 27

• The archbishop of Canterbury, Reginald Pole, had died the same day as Queen Mary;
• The archbishop of York asked to be excused on grounds of conscience;
• The bishop of Durham said he was too old to perform the ceremony.

Question 28

What was the date of Elizabeth’s coronation?

Answer 28

15 January 1559