Court And Parliament Flashcards
(34 cards)
About Elizabeth early life
Born in 1533
Her childhood was challenging because she
Had to witness all Henry’s wives
Was neglected by Henry
Considered to be illegitimate, however her legitimacy wad reinstated 7 years later
Her loyalty was constantly questioned because
She was daughter of Anne
She was often used by scheming coutiers, putting her in danger
How did Henry 8th marriage to Catherine parr make Elizabeth a stronger queen
Catherine brought Elizabeth back to Royal Court and persuaded Henry to restore Elizabeth’s legitimacy
How did Elizabeth becoming a courtier in the Royal Court make her a stronger queen
She learnt the dangers of Royal Court and saw how others spread rumours to gain influence.
She learnt she needed to control the court
How did Mary placing Elizabeth in the tower of London in 1554, after being accused of plotting against Mary make Elizabeth a stronger queen
She learned how unstable her position as Queen would be and how she would have to reactly swiftly against plots.
Mary 1 reign
Mary saw her protestant sister as a threat
Elizabeth was named in the protestant plots to replace Mary
Elizabeth was put in the tower for 2 months
Mary’s devout Catholism caused lots of problems, showing Elizabeth the problems religion can cause
Mary married kind Phillip 11 of Spain, which caused many problems, for the public and for Mary (eg her phantom pregnancy)
This showed Elizabeth how a man can weaked you
Mary’s being a female ruler showed Elizabeth she would have to fight hard
Elizabeth became Queen in 1558
The Royal Court
Centre of Royal and political power
Made up of officials, lady’s in waiting, servants and advisors
Approximately 1000 people in Elizabeth’s Royal Court
Elizabeth used her Royal Court to:
Demonstrate power and wealth
Hold feasts and party’s
Control the nobility and gentry
Reward loyalty
The privy Council
Roughly 19 members, much less than previous monachs, much easier to control
Made up of her closest nobles, coutiers and members of Parliament
Met with Elizabeth 3 Times per week to:
Give advice on key decisions
Enact monarchs wishes
Monitor other government organisations
Lived and worked in the Royal Court
Parliament
The house of Lords contained nobles and bishops chosen by Elizabeth
The house of commons were nobility and gentry chosen by election, though very few could vote in Elizabeth England
Parliament:
Approved tax
If queen wanted to change a law it would have to go through Parliament
Gave monarch advice on key decisions
Elizabeth could open and close Parliament as she wished.
She opened Parliament 10 Times during her reign
Court
Invited by monarch
Called courtiers
Closest friends and servants
Role was:
Entertain monarch
To show wealth and power
To attempt to influence queen’s views on certain issues
Lived and worked near or inside the Royal Palace
Lord luitenant
Queen chooses members of nobility to become Lord luitenants
Usually also worked in privy council
Role:
They trained and assembled the militia in times of unrest
Ensured people on there community followed Elizabeth’s policy’s
Supervised the justices of peace
Lived in the county they worked
Justices of peace
Large landowners chosen by the Lord luitenants
Unpaid and voluntary
Held a lot of status and power
Role:
Collected poor relief
Acted as judges in serious crimes
Ensured people in the community followed Elizabeth’s policy’s
Lived in County where they worked
William Cecil
Served in Edwards Court but left when Mary became queen.
One of Elizabeth’s most trusted advisors
Member of privy Council, Parliament and Secretary of state twice
Protestant
Gentry
Francis Walsingham
During Mary’s reign was in Exile in Switzerland
When he returned became
Member of privy Council
Principle secretary
He became secretary of state at one point
He was Elizabeth’s spymaster, playing a pivotal role in Mary’s of Scots execution
Puritan
Gentry
Robert dudley
Member of nobility
Childhood friends with Elizabeth
In her government he was:
Knight of the garter
Privy counciller
Master of tye horse
Luitenant and captain general of the queen’s army and companies
Puritan
Patronage
Courtiers attended court to improve their status, position and wealth, with many looking for opportunities to gain the queen’s favour
Patronage was a way in which the Queen could ensure loyalty and wad essential as it allowed her to manage court rivalry and competition
Elizabeth gave loyal courtiers patronage through
Titles
A monopoly
Power
Money
Land
For example the Earl of Essex was given a monopoly over sweet wine after his step father Robert dudleys death
Progresses
Elizabeth touring the country with the Royal Court
Elizabeth would stay at the homes of the wealthiest nobles, which was an honour because you got to host the queen and hindrance because it was expensive and often put hosts into debt
Progresses were very beneficial to Elizabeth because
It saved money : the crown was in 300000 pounds of depth when she came to the thrown, and when she went on progresses others paid for everything
Propaganda : allowed her to be seen by normal people, helping her build loyalty
Prevent rebellion : attending certain areas served as a reminder of who their loyalty belonged to
Leave the heat on London : London summers we’re hot and smells so getting fresh air was good for her and the courtiers health
Problems of being a female ruler
Monarchs lead their army’s into battle but as a woman Elizabeth wasn’t seen as strong enough to do this
Society viewed women as incapable of ruling a country as they believed that woman were less intelligent, and often dint have an education. It was believed her male courtiers and nobles would be able to control her
Women were seen as to emotional so they thought Elizabeth wouldn’t be able to make tough decisions
Problems with Elizabeth being constantly compared to Mary
Mary’s reign highlighted many problems of having a female as monarch
Mary married Phillip who controlled her and led England into war with France, loosing calais, so people thought she to would be controlled by her husband
Mary didn’t have a child which increased instability as the country switched religion again
How did Elizabeth deal with being a female ruler
Used the patronage system to keep loyalty
Was a persuasive speaker and would flirt with courtiers
She crested rivalry in her court so that the powerful men were focused on each other and not her
Being forceful an strong when nessasary eg when Wentworth discussed succession against her orders he was thrown in the tower
Learnt from Mary
Eg not marrying
Elizabeth succession
Monarchs needed heirs to continue the line of succession, create stability and provide security for the monarch
Succession became a problem when Elizabeth got smallpox in 1562.
Cecil was told she was going to die and there was no named heir
After the illness parliament wanted her to nominate an her or marry but she refused claiming an heir would endanger her
Possibility for heirs were:
Mary Queen of Scots
Lady Catherine grey
Lady Mary Grey
Towards the end of her rein most of the contenders had died leaving Mary’s son James 6th of Scotland
Elizabeth refused to publicly name him as successor
Elizabeth’s relationship with parliament
She saw it as an inconvenient necessity
She only opened 13 sessions
Elizabeth used her power to limit the influence of parliament by:
Using her charm to persuade mps
Attending Parliament in person
Spoke directly to parliament
Appointed a speaker who was able to control topics discussed
Used her power of veto
Examples of Elizabeth’s interactions with parliament
Elizabeth placed limits on mps discussing topics like succession
( in 1576 Wentworth went to the tower for doing so)
Elizabeth asked parliament to pass laws protecting her throne against domestic and foreign threats
( parliament agreed to pass the laws such as the jesuits act of 1584)
Why did Elizabeth authority decline towards the end of her reign
The end of her reign was troubled by
Plague
Poor harvests
Poverty
War
In the government
Patronage was failing
Elizabeth was loosing loyalty
She was old and hadn’t named a successor
Lost close advisors like dudley and Cecil
Caused her to become
Depressed
Angry
Isolated
Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux
Step son of dudley
Became a fav of the Queen due to accomplishments like capturing cadiz from the Spanish
She showed her favour towards him by giving him:
Position in the privy in 1595
A sweet wine monopoly
He had rivalry with William Cecil’s son Robert Cecil, a fellow privy Councillor. Eg when, in 1596, Elizabeth gave Robert Cecil secretary of state, and Essex was unable to influence her decision, making him look weak
He had
A hot temper
Was jealous
Unpredictable
Argued with the Queen
Married without Queen permission
