History The Elizabethan Age, 1558-1603 Flashcards
(97 cards)
1. Elizabethan Government
Describe how Elizabeth was not popular after her coronation.
1. Elizabeth’s sister, Mary, had left debts of £250,000.
2. Some feared a female ruler meant that England would continue to be seen as a weak country.
- ( This is was in contrast to Spain & France, nations with kings )
3. Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate by act of parliament on 1st July 1536.
- Many saw her as unfit to rule.
4. Mary, Queen of Scots, had a claim to the throne. Mary was a Catholic and married to the heir to the French throne.
1. Elizabethan Governement - Coronation & Popularity
Describe the Strengths brought by Elizabeth’s coronation.
1. Elizabeth was popular and her reign was seen as a fresh start.
2. She had English parents, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. This meant that she would be more likely to be free from overseas influences.
3. She was single so she could have her choice of suitors rather than be controlled by a foreign husband.
4. Elizabeth was a Protestant and was committed to re-establishing a ‘middle way’ between protestants and catholics, pleasing most.
1. Elizabethan Governement - Coronation & Popularity
Describe the Weaknesses/Problems of Elizabeth’s coronation.
1. Elizabeth’s sister, Mary, had left debts of £250,000.
2. Some feared a female ruler meant that England would continue to be seen as a weak country.
- ( This is was in contrast to Spain & France, nations with kings )
3. Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate by an act of parliament on 1st July 1536.
- Many saw her as unfit to rule.
4. Mary, Queen of Scots, had a claim to the throne. Mary was a Catholic and married to the heir to the French throne.
1. Elizabethan Governement - Royal Court
Describe how Elizabeth made use of the Royal Court in her ruling.
1. Queen Elizabeth had her servants and laidies-in-waiting living with her, together with chief advisers & government officials.
- These people made up the Royal Court.
2. Having her courtiers nearby allowed Elizabeth to consult them & challenge councillors, it also allowed her to keep an eye and monitor them.
- Chief Courties include; William Cecil, Christopher Hatton, Walter Raleigh, Francis Walsinham, & Robert Dudley.
3. She also maintained loyalty through granting patronage, leading to many nobles to trying to get into the queens court.
- For ambitious courtiers, everything depended on keeping the support of the queen.
1. Elizabethan Governement - Privy Council
Describe;
A) The role of the Privy Council
B) Important Members of the Privy Council
A) Privy Council role;
- Group of powerful noblemen appointed by Elizabeth to advise her on issues.
- Elizabeth chose a small group of 19 men to minimise conflict, also made sure none got to powerful.
- The council met every day and was the most powerful part of the machinery of the government.
B) Important members;
1. William Cecil - A morderate protestant, Elizabeth’s most important adviser, he was Secretary of state and guided Elizabeth for over 40 years till his death.
2. Robert Dudley - A Protestant, Earl of Leicester, He and Elizabeth were very close and there were rumours that he and Elizabeth were lovers.
3. Sir Francis Walsingham - in charge of Elizabeth’s secret service and advised on foreign affairs. In 1586 he uncovered the plot that led to Mary’s execution.
1. Elizabethan Governement - Local Government
Describe the different Local Governments that helped Elizabeth run the country.
1. Lord Lieutent - Post held by a wealthy land owner that was usually a Privy Counceller, they kept the queen informed on what was going on.
- They were in charge of the local militia & supervised the Justicises of peace.
2. The Sheriff - Each country had a sheriff that was chiefly concerned with legal affairs like;
- Appointing and swearing in juries.
- Delivering prisoners to court.
- Collection of taxes.
( Many roles got passed onto JPs )
3. Justices of the peace - 30%-60% per county and were usually unpaid rich gentlemen that wanted status, job include;
- Organising the parish constable. ( nightman who patrolled the streets, preventing problems. )
- Looking after the poor.
- Fixing prices and wages; checking weights & measures on shops.
1. Elizabethan Governement - The Role of Parliment
Describe the body of parliment and how Elizabeth used them.
1. Parliment was made up of the;
- House of Lords; non-elected amount of 100 lords,bishops etc.
- House of Commons; 450 MPs who were elected by wealthy landowners.
2. Elizabeth only called parliment when she needed them, this was usually because;
- She needed parliment to raise money though taxes for her.
- She needed to pass Acts of Parliment.
- She desired the support of of her MPs on certian issues.
1. Elizabethan Governement - The Role of Parliment
Describe the issue of Freedom of Speech within Parliment.
1. Elizabeth appointed a speaker in the House of commons and decided what topics could be debated.
2. Elizabeth had made it clear topics like Religion and Foreign Policies were to not be discussed by Parliment and only her Privy Council.
3. When in 1571, MPs asked Elizabeth to consider marriage, she said they had no right to discuss personal matters.
4. In 1576 MP, Peter Wentworth, complained about Freedom of Speech.
- Elizabeth sent him to the Tower of London for a month for speaking out.
1. Elizabethan Governement - The Role of Parliment
Describe the issue of Taxation and finance relating to parliment.
1. During the Tudor period monarchs were expected to pay the cost of running the country from their own finances.
- Tudor monarchs were often short on finance as only parliment could raise money through taxes.
2. This issue became worse during Elizabeth’s reign due to high inflation, involvement in foreign affairs and her inherentence of the Marian debt ( 227k )
3. With support from William cecil and her programme, she was able to pay off her Marian debt, but she was still short of money leading to periodic calls of parliment for money.
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
Outline the Social strutcure that existed in Elizabethan England.
( 1 = Highest, 6 = Lowest )
1. The Monarch - Queen Elizabeth
2. Noble and lords - great landowners that make up to £6k per year.
3. Gentry - Lesser landowners with an income of up to £200 per year.
4. Wealthy merchants - successful in the business of purchasing and buying.
- Professionals - Emerging middle class.
5. Yeomen - owned their own property, had a few servants , and farmed some land.
6. Cottagers - had small to farm and also carried out some small-scale industry.
7. Landless unskilled laberoures - Seasonal workers; unemployed during certian times of war.
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What was life like for those in the lower levels of social structure?
- Families in the lower levels of social structure struggled to survive and it has been estimated that 20 to 30 percent of the population lived on the edge of starvation
- Events such as bad harvests, rising prices and changes resulting from seasonal employment were often enough sufficient triggers to tip these groups over into poverty
- This then caused them to become beggars, an issue which became a major concern in the Elizabethan reign
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
How did the higher levels of social structure earn money and landholdings?
- during the reign of Elizabeth, many of the landowning classes increased their wealth
- some had bought land in the 1530’s after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, which they now rented out
- some had adjusted to the agircultural changes in the period and ditched the cultivation of land for the more profitable sheep farming
- some took advantage of the mineral resources on thier land by mining for coal, lead and iron ore
- some continued to do the traditional method of increasing landholding by marrying th daughter of a wealthy landowner. Such a bride would come with a large dowry which may include land
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What houses did people in the higher levels of social structure live in?
- many landowners used their increased wealth to remodel their homes or to build new houses on a grand scale
- such houses were fitted with the latest fashions in furniture and fittings, and the walls covered in fines paintings and huge tapestries
- the large numer of houses built in this period make them call the age of ‘The Great Rebuilding’
- to some extent, these were fuelled by Elizabeth’s annual progresses which caused ehr courtiers to remodel or rebuild their homes so they could entertain the queen when visiting them
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
Examples of mansion houses built in the Elizabethan style
- Burghley House, Lincolnshire - constructed by Elizabeth’s chief minister, William Cecil and completed by 1587
- Longleat House, Wiltshire - built for Sir John Thynne and completed in 1580
- Holdenby House, Northamptonshire - built for Elizabeth’s Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton and completed in 1583
- Hardwick Hall was built for Elizabeth Talbot (Bess of Hardwick) and was completed in 1597and described as having ‘more glass than wall’
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What fashion was common for noblemen?
- wears the latest fashions with linen, silk, and velvet
- his outfit would consist of a doublet, a stiffened ruff, a trunk hose, a jerkin, stockings and leather shoes
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What fashion was commmon for an Elizabethan lady?
A fashionable elizabethan lady would wear:
- a petticoat
- ruffs
- gown
- jewellery
- stockings
they would also wear jewellery and a cape with a hat when going out
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What was education like for nobleman’s children?
- sons of wealthy nobles were tutored at home, most receiving education in the classics as well as providing them with good knowledge of French, Latin and Greek
- social etiquette was taught as well as grounding in fashionable pursuits of hunting, hawking and dancing
- daughters would be taught by a mistress and would be taught the practicalities of running a big house and its staff
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What homes did the gentry live in?
- owned more land than they could farm and rented out large parts of it to tenant farmers in order to secure a regular income of several hundred pounds a year
- copied the trend of richer nobles to modernise and refashion their homes from the medieval, foritified dwellings of before
- walls decorated with tapestries rather than paintings of family members
- glass replaced windows formally with wooden shutters and large, open fireplaces were installed with brick-built chimneys
d2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What was the wife of a nobleman expected to do?
- expected to supervise the day-to-day running of the household, which included production of everyday items
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What did the gentry wear?
- gentry class followed the same style as their social superiors except with the lack of expensive fine thread used by them
- fashion was taken very seriously as it was a demonstration of personal power, status and social standing
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What education and leisure did the lower classes have?
- with what little leisure time they had, lower classes would go to the inn or tavern, gamble in cock and bear baiting rings, playing cards and dice or betting on racing
- the poor could generally not afford to send their children to school but if they were lucky enough to attend parish school, they would be taught basic reading and writing skills
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What education did the gentry receive?
- sons often attended grammar school, so called because they taught Greek and Latin grammar
- there were around 360 schools across England with virtually one in every town
- tudor education aimed to produce ‘perfect’ gentlemen and flogging was a common punishment and there were also long days from 6-7 am to 5pm
- after grammar school, they either go to Cambridge or Oxford or the Inns of court to study law
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What houses did the lower classes live in and how long did they work?
- lived in much smaller houses, usually only having one room, sometimes shared with animals
- people with a bit more money (e.g craftsmen and small farmers) were able to rebuild their house with glazed windows, separate rooms and kitchen
- tenant farmers and labourers worked long hours from around 5am in the morning to 5pm in the afternoon
- they had a break at 7am and 11am for bread, ale and cheese and had vegetable stew around 6pm as they could not afford meat
2. Lifestyles of the rich and poor - Contrasting
What were some of the causes of poverty in the 16th century?
Bad harvests: bad harvests, especially 1556, 1596 and 1597, caused a steep rise in food prices and increased the level of starvation
Rack renting: sharp increases in rents meant many tenant farmers could not afford the higher rents and were evicted
Costly foreign wars and demobbed soldiers: wars against France, Scotland and Spain cause taxes to rise and the value of coinage to fall; resulted in large numbers of soldiers wandering the countryside for work
Rising inflation: Wages could not keep up with rising prices, especially food prices