Challenges to Elizabeth home and abroad

Question 1

What were the causes of the Revolt of the Northern Earls 1569?

Answer 1

• Earls wanted to restore catholic faith and hoped to gain support from Phillip of Spain
• Earls unhappy Elizabeth reduced their power and gave it to her allies and relatives
• Elizabeth had taken away some of their land, struggled financially under Elizabeth
• Earls taken part in plot to marry Mary QofS to Duke of Norfolk and Elizabeth summoned them to court - Earls rebelled to avoid imprisonment or execution

Question 2

What were the key features of the Revolt of the Northern Earls 1569?

Answer 2

• Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland ordered their tennants to join their armies and march south, many men joined their lords
• Cathedral in Durham stormed, protestant prayer books and English Bible’s destroyed
• Lords in Lanchashire and Cheshire refused to help
• Elizabeth ordered Mary QofS moved south to prison near Coventry to avoid boing rescued, added momentum to revolt
• Earl of Sussex assembled an army of 10,000 men in support of elizabeth
• Rebels fled and escaped to Scotland

Question 3

What were the consequences of the Revolt of Northern Earls 1569?

Answer 3

• Northumberland beheaded and Elizabeth ordered 700 rebels to be executed
• refused to execute Duke of Norfolk
• revolt encouraged Pope Pius VI to issue a papas bull, excommunicating Elizabeth in 1570
• 1571 Parliament Act widened definition of treason to include calling Elizabeth a heretic
• Protestant appointed leader of Council in the North who implemented laws against Catholics and effectively supressed Catholicism

Question 4

What were the causes of the Ridolfi Plot 1571?

Answer 4

• Duke of Norfolk keen to see Elizabeth overthrown, supported Northern revolt but not directly involved - imprisoned for 9 months, keen for revenge
• Pope excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, encouraging catholics to oppose her, caused more resentment to Elizabeth because she became stricter on Catholics3

Question 5

What were the key features of the Ridolfi Plot 1571?

Answer 5

• Ridolfi was a devout catholic involved in the Northern revolt, realised needed international support
• Began to gain support across europe as he worked as a banker
• Thought he had Duke of Alva’s support to launch invasion in England which would prompt Catholics to rebel against Elizabeth - incorrect, Alva thought Spanish should only get involved after Elizabeth had been removed - As ridolfi was trying to gain support fromEurope, Elizabeth’s government was finding out details of the plot - servants of Duke of Norfolk interrogated and gave up details of plot preventing it from even starting - Duke of Norfolk accused of high treason and beheaded in 1572

Question 6

What were the consequences of the Ridolfi Plot 1571?

Answer 6

• Spanish ambassador expelled from England
• Elizabeth focused on improving relations with France
• Elizabeth pressured by government to be harsher on catholics - encouraged decision to execute Norfolk
• Passed an act that said anyone that questioned her would be declared a traitor

Question 7

What were the causes of the Throckmorton Plot 1583?

Answer 7

• International and domestic desire to see Elizabeth removed and replaced with Mary Queen of Scots

Question 8

What were the key features of the Throckmorton Plot 1583?

Answer 8

• Throckmorton passing letters from Mary to French and Spanish ambassadors
• Suspected by Walshingham and Cecil, who oversaw spy network, placed him under surveillance and arrested him in 1583
• Throckmorton’s house searched and paper’s linking Catholic noble’s to the plot found
• Throckmorton confessed under torture that there was a plan for an uprising to be started by an invasion of the north by French duke of guise, financial support from Phillip of Spain, and would end in Elizabeth’s execution and replacement with Mary

Question 9

What were the consequences of the Throckmorton Plot 1583?

Answer 9

• Spanish ambassador permenantly expelled
• Throckmorton executed July 1584
• Henry Howard and Henry Percy arrested as named in papers from Throckmorton’s home, Percy took own life in Tower of London and Howard released after being questioned twice
• Governments fear of Catholic uprising increased
• More determined effort to incriminate Mary
• Catholics treated with greater suspicion by government, many important catholics fled, 11,000 imprisoned or kept under surveillance and act passed that made helping or sheltering Catholic priests punishable by death
• Act passed that meant Mary could not take succession if Elizabeth was assassinated

Question 10

What were the causes of The Babington Plot 1586?

Answer 10

• Priest come up with the plot
• War with spain made plotters more confident of support from Spanish in form of money and invasion
• Mary been in prison for over 19 years so keep to support plot and escape

Question 11

What were the key features of The Babington Plot 1586?

Answer 11

• Walshingham had high profile double agent Gifford gaining info
• Walshingham ordered line of communication between mary and plotters to entrap them, and ordered Gifford to tell French embassador about communication and provide a code to write in - meaning coded letters could be discovered and decoded
• centred on murder of Elizabeth and encouraged catholics to rebel
• Walshinggham intercepted letter in beer barrel of Mary ordering assasination of Elizabeth

Question 12

What were the consequences of The Babington Plot 1586?

Answer 12

• Babington and two others arrested and executed
• Mary moved to Fotheringhay Castle to be put on trial
• found guilty of plotting to take elizabeth’s life and recommended she be executed
• Relations between England and Spain worsened
• Government determined to crush catholicism and mass recusants with other 300 in north london and 31 priests executed

Question 13

What was the execution of Mary QofS like?

Answer 13

• Signed death warrant in 1587 but refused to send it
• Privy council secretly planned execution and Elizabeth’s secretary took warrent to them and Mary executed
• Elizabeth very angry

Question 14

How did trade cause the Spanish Aarmada?

Answer 14

• Spain had control of the netherlands, one of englands main sources of trade
• england started to trade with colonies in the new world but didnt have license from spain so was illegal
• english ships were attacking spanish fleets carrying goods and treasure, King phillip very unhappy
• underlying cause as irritant to Spain, not enough on own to trigger war

Question 15

How did the actions of Sir Francis Drake cause the Spanish Armada?

Answer 15

• Drake attacked spanish ships full of gold and seized silver worth £20,000
• attacked spanish settlements on the west coast of South America in 1579, attacking 12 spanish ships and gaining lots of coins - attacked Cacafuego and captured cargo worth over £140,000
• Elizabeth didn’t intervene and claimed ignorance

Question 16

How did religion cause the Spanish armada?

Answer 16

• pHILLIP OF sPAIN WAS DEVOUT CATHOLIC AND BELIEVED IT WAS HIS DUTY TO PROTECT catholicism around the world, Elizabeth set up Protestant church making conflict more likely
• Spanish priests arrived in enland, sparking fears of crusade
• not a main reason as phillip id nothing after settlement however was a long term cause of tension

Question 17

How did politics cause the spanish armada?

Answer 17

• Spanish empire strongest in the world, Drake challanged this authority
• Phillip more concerned about France challanging Spain’s powr so would have rather had Elizabeth on the throne than mary, as she had ties to French

Question 18

How did the dutch revolt in the netherlands cause the spanish armada?

Answer 18

• Netherlands part of Spanish empire and its location important to England for defence and Spain for trade routes
• Phillip sent Duke of Alba with army of 10,000 men to Netherlands to suppress rebels
• Elizabeth indirectly helped rebels by allowing dutch pirates who attacked spanish ships to shelter in english ports
• protestants in netherlands rebelled and elizabeth secretly sent money and weapons
• spanish military prescence in English chanel increased leading to growing fears Spanish would turn attention to england

Question 19

What were the key features of the armada?

Answer 19

• Elizabeth prepared for armada bedore 1588 by sending soldiers to defend coast, setting up warning beacons and converting trade ships to fighting ships
• Drake sent to attack spanish controlled west indies, capturing 2 towns and arriving back in england with £30,000 treasure - accelerated Phillip’s plan to attack and large fleet assembled in cadiz
• Drake convinced Elizabeth attacking Spanish ship was the best option so he attacked guns and forts as well as damaging ships - delayed construction of armada
• Drake sailed north and attacked portuguese vessels carrying material to make barrels storing Spanish supplies, then captured treasure ship with £114,000 treasure - provided Elizabeth money and time to better prepare
• Spanish plan to have 20,000 men meet Duke of Parma meet at Calais
• Spanish though would lead to catholic uprising against Elizabeth and she’d be forced to surrender
• 130 spanish ships sailed, 17,000 men in cresent formation
• English fleet followed armada for 8 days, ordered 8 unmaned ships to be filled with gunpowder and have wind blow to Spanish
• Spanish panicked and pulled anchors - blown towards netherlands - armada could not join up with duke of parma - English attacked, battle of gravelines lasted most of day, most spanish ships lost or destroyed - no english ships lost, 1000 spanish soldiers killed vs 50 english soldiers - weather forced spanish to sail north of england and to scotland and ireland - 40 ships lost in wreckage

Question 20

What were the reasons for spanish defeat?

Answer 20

• defence mechanisms taken by Elizabeth
• Armada meeting Duke of Parma at calais was logistical nightmare with communication - arriving too early or late would leave Spanish at risk of attack from dutch pirates
• tactics of english - kept at distance from Spain as armada sailed, delayed spanish and meant could not board english ships as planned. Inflamed ships vital sending spanish off course, scatter ships and progress, couldnt meet duke of parma
• wind and weather blew spanish back towards Netherlands and later forced them to go around scotland and ireland, where weather worsened and many ships damaged or lost
• england had smaller, quicker ships with lighter and greater range cannons