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Elizabeth
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1558 - 1603 (Religious settlement (1559 Act of…
Elizabeth
1558 - 1603
Early Life
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Her father, Henry VIII was disappointed, had wanted and expected a son
Mother, Anne Boleyn, accused and executed when she was 3
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Affection between her and Thomas Seymour, however Seymour was executed and she feared for her own life.
Consolidation of power
William Cecil oversaw succession, which went smoothly. He enjoyed Elizabeth's trust and would serve her for 40 years as Principal secretary, then as Lord Treasurer from 1572.
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Upon Mary's death, Liz inherited all the social, economic, and religious problems that had plagued her.
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View of the people
Majority of English people welcomed Liz's accession, young and seemed to promise a new beginning
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Economic, religious, and social developments in early years
Religion
Divided, majority still catholic.
Protestantism strong in London, the South East, unis, and among politically active classes.
More extreme group of protestants, Marian Exiles, returned expecting influential government positions.
Economy
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Some landlord tried to increase their income by enclosing land, increasing unemployment.
Trade with Antwerp had collapsed in the 1550's, unemployment
Inflation exacerbated by bad harvests, flu, etc
Reminted coins with a lower gold content, benefit financially,
International relations
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Mary QoS declared that she was the rightful queen of England, and was supported by some catholics, raising the prospect of civil war
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Religious settlement
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1559 Act of Supremacy
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Oath of supremacy to be taken by clergymen/ church officials, court of High Commission set up to enforce this
Act of Uniformity 1559
Specified the use of a Book of Common Prayer, which was a modified version of Ed's Second Book of Common Prayer
Wordings from both previous books accepted, thereby allowing variations on Eucharistic belief
'Black rubric', which had essentially removed kneeling, was omitted
Allowed ornaments to an extent, which angered Calvinist protestants, who saw them as 'popish'
Everyone had to attend Church of England services - anyone attending catholic mass could face the death penalty
Royal Injunction 1559
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Preachers had to be licensed by a bishop, every church must have an english bible, pilgrimages outlawed etc etc etc
Act of Exchange, 1559
Elizabeth allowed to take over property belonging to to Bishop and to force them to only rent land to her. Often used as a threat to keep overly critical bishops in line, so unpopular.
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Essentially, Catholic structure with Protestant teachings
Early Foreign Policy
Inherited:
- War w/ France
- Calais lost
- Peace with Spain through Philip (tensions tho)
- French control over Scotland (Mary of Guise)
- Tensions across Europe between Catholics and Protestants
France
Treaty of Cateu Cambresis,1559
- Peace treaty between France, Spain, and England
- France would take over Calais for 8 years, but would give it back if peace not broken, or would pay 500,000 crowns and give it back.
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Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester) encouraged Liz to put down the French Crown while they were still weak
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Scotland
Elizabeth cautious to interfere, but Scotland being used as an instrument of French policy, and was strongly Catholic, alarming Scottish protestants and leading them to request assistance from their fellow protestants south of the border (John Knox + Lords of the Congregation)
Cecil strongly supported intervention, sympathising with the religious predicament of the scottish protestants.
Initially, intervention was limited to money and armaments, but a storm severely damaged the french fleet, and Mary of Guise died, so cecil was able to secure favourable terms in the July Treaty of Edinburgh.
Guises fell from power. lords of congregation accepted as a provisional conciliar govt, Mary weakened significantly, her husband dies.
Parliament
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Used to deal with war, public disorder, taxation, religious reforms.
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By 1593, relationship with parliament began to decline, by 1601 it totally collapsed with disputes over monopolies
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Key Ministers
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William Cecil
- Had served Edward under somerset and Northumberland
- Secretary of State, Master of the Court of Wards, Lord Treasurer 1572
- Lord Burghley (patronage)
Sir Christopher Hatton
- Lack of training, but acquired many titles, and was rewarded by Elizabeth
- Monopoly of the wine trade (patronage)
- Eventually Lord Chancellor 1587
Sir Walter Raleigh
- Dashing + flamboyant, given first ship in 1578
- Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard in 1585-88
- Knighted, monopoly on playing cards (patronage)
- Downfall - Got Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's maids of honour, pregnant, no longer trusted.
Robert Dudley
- Earl of Leicester
- Love interest
- Clashed frequently with Cecil
- 5th son of DofNorthumberland
Robert Devereux
- 2nd Earl of Essex
- Reckless, vain, extravagant
- Monopoly over sweet wines (patronage)
- Favourite courtier by 1587
- Disobeyed orders commanding an army in Ireland, burst into queen's bedchamber, stripped of all titles
- 1601, led an uprising to force Liz to restore him + others to their offices, and executed.
Plots
Northern Rebellion 1569
- Remove Cecil from power, Norfolk wanted to marry Mary qos, couldn't, northern lords started to revolt and rebel, religious anarchy in Durham, laid siege to York, rebels eventually fled.
- 800 rebels executed, Liz pressured more by her council to marry.
Ridolfi Plot 1571
- Robert Ridolfi posed as an international banker, created a plot between Spain, Rome, Brussels, Duke of Norfolk
- Stopped before it started
-Supporters and DofNorfolk executed June 1572
- Mary got tighter security
Throckmorton Plot 1583
- Aimed to assassinate Liz w/ an invasion, financed by the Spanish and the Pope
- Walsingham realised the plan
Babington Plot 1586
- Letters sent to Mary in prison, massive plan, intercepted by Walsingham
- Led to Mary's execution in 1587
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Society and Economy
Poor laws
Deserving poor: Those unable to work, old, ill, etc
The Undeserving poor: Beggars and vagabonds
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Poor Law Act 1576 First attempt to create a national system of financial relief to be administered locally
Poor Law Act 1598 Confirmed the compulsory poor rate, vagrants subject to whipping then returned to their parishes of origin, more houses of correction to be built.
Poor Law Act 1601 Followed and confirmed the 1598 Act, allowed a pauper girl to leave her apprenticeship to get married.
Books of Orders: Instructions to JP's on implementing the crown's social and economic policies. Some JP's doubted their legality as not passed by parliament.
Trade
Significant:
- Trade w/ India established
- Levant company was successful
- Thames-Tyne coal trade expansion
- Muscovy company = established trade with Russia, successful and profitable
- Beginning of the slave trade
- Growth of consumer goods (spice, tobacco etc)
Not significant
- Indian trade couldn't compete with Dutch East India Company
- Muscovy company failed to compete effectively with the Dutch
- Hawkins' 3rd slave trading voyage failed, financial disaster for people who put their money into it
- Failures one West-African coast, only established in Guinea
Exploration
Significant
- Colonies established in America
- Francis Drake's privateers stealing spanish silver
- Drake the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world
- West coast of Africa
Not significant
- North American colonisation not funded, abandoned because of the war with Spain
- Raleigh didn't find El Dorado, just irritated the Spanish.
Social problems
Ireland
- Thought Ireland should be subject to a policy of 'Englishness'
- Elizabeth proclaimed Supreme Governor of the Church of Ireland in 1560
- Elizabeth lacked the power to impose Protestantism on the largely catholic population
- Rebellions broke out against english rule in 1569-1578 1579-1582, latter linked with a Spanish invasion
-Third Irish rebellion (Tyrone) closely linked with the Anglo-Spanish war
Wales
- Disproportionate amount of Welsh supported the Essex rebellion
- Borders became more law-abiding and stable
- Welsh language disappeared as a medium of government, however it remained as a language for religion, more unified
- Relatively poor, linguistic + cultural differences
- Bible + book of common prayer translated into Welsh
Problems in England and on the Border
- Scottish border a 'lawless no-mans land
- Sheep + cattle rustling created problems for authorities of both countries
- Administrative responsibility remained with wardens who were appointed from great northern families - Elizabeth replaced them with southerners
- Appointing southern nobles made it difficult for nobles without a local landed base to control it
- So long as Scotland remained an independent state, the possibility of a border conflict remained
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