Elizabeth's Court & Parliament Flashcards
All 33 cards in this deck
Who was William Cecil?
Elizabeth's chief minister: Secretary of State, then Lord Treasurer from 1572 (made Lord Burghley in 1571).
Why did some English Catholics regard Elizabeth as illegitimate?
They did not recognise Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn as legal.
Give one problem Elizabeth faced because of her gender and marital status.
As an unmarried woman, many people felt she was not capable of ruling the country.
Who was Sir Francis Walsingham?
Elizabeth's Secretary of State and spymaster, who ran a network of spies and informers and intercepted coded letters, uncovering the Babington Plot.
Who were Elizabeth I's parents, and when did she become queen?
Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn; she became queen in 1558.
What was patronage in Elizabethan England?
The granting of titles, jobs, land and privileges (such as monopolies) in return for loyalty and support.
True or false? The Elizabethan Court was a single fixed place, Whitehall Palace.
False. The Court was wherever the Queen was living, so it moved with her between palaces such as Windsor and Hampton Court, and went on progress to nobles' houses each summer.
Who was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester?
Elizabeth's closest favourite and a leading Privy Councillor, made Earl of Leicester in 1564.
Why was Elizabeth titled 'Supreme Governor' of the Church of England rather than 'Supreme Head'?
Because many people thought it wrong for a woman to be head of the Church.
What did Elizabeth believe Parliament's main job was?
To vote her money and then leave her to run the country. Parliament met only 13 times in her 44-year reign.
Give one reason Elizabeth did not marry a foreign Catholic prince such as Philip II of Spain or the Duke of Anjou.
A Catholic husband was unacceptable to the English nobility and risked putting England under foreign control.
What was Essex's rebellion (1601)?
The Earl of Essex marched into London with about 200 followers to seize power from Elizabeth's councillors; Londoners did not join him and he was executed for treason.
True or false? When Elizabeth went on progress and stayed at a noble's house, the Queen paid for the visit.
False. The host noble paid: a royal visit was an honour but an immense expense.
Who was Sir Christopher Hatton?
A courtier from a gentry family who rose through Elizabeth's favour to be Captain of her bodyguard, a Privy Councillor and, from 1587, Lord Chancellor. A moderate Protestant hostile to the Puritans; he died in 1591.
What was the Privy Council?
The small group of leading advisers the Queen chose (about 19 at first, fewer later) who met almost daily to advise her and run the government, sending orders to Lord Lieutenants and JPs. Elizabeth was free to ignore their advice.
Give one reason Elizabeth went on progress.
Any one: it let ordinary people see her and built their loyalty; it honoured the nobles who hosted her; the hosts paid, which saved her money; it moved the Court away from London in the plague season.
How did Elizabeth use 'divide and rule' with her councillors?
She deliberately kept rival factions on the Council, such as the cautious William Cecil and the more aggressive, Puritan-leaning Robert Dudley, so that she heard competing advice, they competed for her favour, and the final decision stayed hers.
Who was Robert Cecil?
William Cecil's son, trained in government by his father and Walsingham. He joined the Privy Council in 1591, became Secretary of State in 1596 and was the dominant minister after his father died in 1598, the great rival of Essex.
Who was Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex?
Robert Dudley's stepson and Elizabeth's leading favourite in the 1590s: a dashing soldier, famous for the capture of Cadiz in 1596, who became a Privy Councillor in 1593. He was proud and quick-tempered, and Robert Cecil's bitter rival.
What kind of education did Elizabeth receive?
An exceptional one for a woman of her time. Taught by humanist scholars, above all Roger Ascham, she became a gifted linguist, at home in Latin and several modern languages and able to read Greek.
What happened to Elizabeth after Wyatt's Rebellion in 1554?
Suspected of backing the rising against her sister Mary I, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London for about two months and then kept under house arrest at Woodstock.
What was a monopoly in Elizabethan England?
The sole right, granted by the Crown, to make, sell or import a particular product, such as salt or playing cards. Monopolies rewarded courtiers at no cost to the Crown but pushed up prices.
Who was Peter Wentworth?
A Puritan MP who demanded freedom of speech in Parliament, including on religion and the succession. He was imprisoned in the Tower in 1576 and again later, and died there in 1597.
Give one way Elizabeth controlled Parliament.
Any one: only she could call or dissolve it; she chose the Speaker, who controlled what was debated; she could veto bills; Privy Councillors sat in both Houses to manage business.
Which subjects did Elizabeth insist MPs could not debate without her permission?
Matters of her royal prerogative, especially her marriage, the succession and religion. MPs who pressed them could be silenced or imprisoned.
What happened over monopolies in the Parliament of 1601?
MPs fiercely attacked the monopolies granted to courtiers for raising prices. Elizabeth backed down, promising to cancel the worst of them, and won back goodwill with her 'Golden Speech' in November 1601.
Why could Elizabeth not realistically marry Robert Dudley?
His wife, Amy Robsart, was found dead with a broken neck at the bottom of the stairs in 1560. Rumours that Dudley or the Queen had arranged it meant a marriage between them would have been a scandal.
Who was Elizabeth's last serious suitor?
The French Catholic Duke of Alençon (Duke of Anjou from 1576), about 22 years younger than her. Talks ran from the late 1570s until 1581–82, when opposition from councillors and the public ended them.
Why did Elizabeth refuse to name an heir?
She feared that a named successor would become a rallying point for plotters and discontented nobles, threatening her own safety and authority.
How was the succession settled in 1603?
Robert Cecil secretly wrote to James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Queen of Scots, from 1601. When Elizabeth died in March 1603, James succeeded peacefully as James I of England.
What did Essex do in Ireland in 1599?
Sent to defeat the Earl of Tyrone's rebellion, he made a truce with Tyrone against orders and came back to court without permission. He was then stripped of his offices and placed under house arrest.
Why did losing his sweet wines monopoly in 1600 matter to Essex?
It was his main source of income. When Elizabeth refused to renew it he faced financial ruin, which helped drive him to rebel in 1601.
Which of Elizabeth's leading ministers died between 1588 and 1598?
Leicester (1588), Walsingham (1590), Hatton (1591) and William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1598), leaving her dependent on a younger and more divided generation of courtiers.