practice

Question 1

Why was the issue of succession pressing for Elizabeth’s councillors?

Answer 1

She was single<br></br>- If she died, the heir was Mary, Queen of Scots<br></br>- She believed that the issue was not for debate by the Privy Council or Parliament<br></br>- Any marriage would have significant implications for English foreign policy

Question 2

Who were the potential suitors for Elizabeth?

Answer 2

• Robert Dudley (later Earl of Leicester)<br></br>- Philip II of Spain<br></br>- Archdukes Ferdinand and Charles (sons of Emperor Ferdinand)<br></br>- Prince Erik of Sweden (Protestant suitor)

Question 3

What was the problem with Robert Dudley as a suitor?

Answer 3

• Not supported by Cecil - feared it would erode his own influence and create problems with factions<br></br>- Dudley’s first wife, Amy, was found dead in mysterious circumstances and people wondered if Elizabeth and Dudley had arranged it, meaning Elizabeth could not risk being involved in the scandal

Question 4

What were the positives of Philip II of Spain as a suitor?

Answer 4

• Offered his hand in a polite gesture to Elizabeth<br></br>- Powerful with an empire<br></br>- Alliance with Spain

Question 5

What were the problems with Philip II of Spain as a suitor?

Answer 5

• Foreign King<br></br>- Position of Elizabeth - what title would Philip take<br></br>- Probably lacked serious intent, partly because of his profound Catholicism

Question 6

What were the positives of Archdukes Ferdinand and Charles as suitors?

Answer 6

• Both powerful<br></br>- Both had large, powerful empires<br></br>- Both would provide a useful alliance

Question 7

What were the problems with Archdukes Ferdinand and Charles as suitors?

Answer 7

• Both dukes were Catholic<br></br>- Foreign suitors<br></br>- Fears for Elizabeth’s position

Question 8

What were the positives of Prince Erik of Sweden as a suitor?

Answer 8

• Powerful and would provide a strong alliance<br></br>- Protestant suitor

Question 9

What were the problems with Prince Erik of Sweden as a suitor?

Answer 9

• Elizabeth gave him little encouragement<br></br>- Foreign royal

Question 10

How did Parliament put pressure on Elizabeth to marry?

Answer 10

• Parliament first raised the issue of the succession in 1559, but Elizabeth deflected the pressure and insisted that any decision was a matter of royal prerogative<br></br>- The debate became far more urgent in 1563 because Elizabeth had nearly died in October 1562 from smallpox and the Council feared the repercussions of her death with no named successor

Question 11

What could the repercussions be if Elizabeth died with no named successor?

Answer 11

• Civil war<br></br>- Invasion<br></br>- Religious strife

Question 12

Who were the two potential successors?

Answer 12

• Lady Catherine Grey<br></br>- Mary, Queen of Scots

Question 13

Why was Lady Catherine Grey being a potential successor an issue?

Answer 13

• Married Earl of Hertford in 1561 (Somerset’s son, a Seymour)<br></br>- She did not ask for permission and almost immediately fell pregnant<br></br>- Elizabeth feared that Catherine’s ability to bear a son would create rebellion<br></br>- Catherine was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where Hertford joined her on his return to England<br></br>- Whilst in prison she had a second child<br></br>- In 1562 the marriage was annulled and the Seymours were censured as fornicators for their “carnal copulation” by a Church commission<br></br>- From 1563 Catherine was placed under house arrest and finally died in 1568

Question 14

Why was Mary, Queen of Scots being a potential successor an issue?

Answer 14

• In July 1559, Henry II of France died and Mary became Queen of France<br></br>- In December 1560, her husband (Francis) died<br></br>- August 1561 - Mary returned to Scotland<br></br>- October 1562 - Elizabeth nearly died of Smallpox<br></br>- 1563 - Parliament requested some clarification over the chosen successor, but Elizabeth refused to be drawn - this would be a long, protracted and finally fruitless battle

Question 15

Why did pressure for Elizabeth to marry return in the late 1560s?

Answer 15

• Parliament debated the issue once again in 1566 - MQS had a son<br></br>- Much evidence suggests this followed discussion at Privy Council level where Cecil and Dudley had failed to get the Queen to budge on the issue

Question 16

How did Elizabeth react to the returned pressure for her to marry?

Answer 16

• She was furious<br></br>- Dudley and Pembroke were temporarily banned from the Presence Chamber<br></br>- Councillors were publicly rebuked<br></br>- MPs and Lords were called into her presence and told off<br></br>- She reasserted her belief that the succession was a matter of royal prerogative

Question 17

Who was a late possibility for Elizabeth to marry?

Answer 17

The Duke of Anjou (24 y/o brother of French King Henry III) - declared a suitor in 1579

Question 18

Why was the Duke of Anjou suggested as a suitor and why did this not carry forward?

Answer 18

• It was claimed that 46 y/o Elizabeth could still bear children<br></br>- Cecil and Sussex promoted the plan<br></br>- It was opposed by Dudley and Walsingham and there was popular fear of a child born under the influence of France and the idea soon passed

Question 19

What did Elizabeth choose to do herself in terms of the succession?

Answer 19

• Took a political decision not to marry, coming to the conclusion that the disadvantages of marriage outweighed the advantages despite the potential risks of having no direct heir of her own<br></br>- She also refused to name a successor to the very end and there is no conclusive proof that she accepted James’ succession on her deathbed<br></br>- Nevertheless, her authority had ebbed away and the arrangements for succession were already in place

Question 20

Why was James VI considered as a potential successor?

Answer 20

• Execution of MQS meant her son, James VI of Scotland, had the best hereditary claim even though the Stuarts had been excluded from the succession in Henry VIII’s will<br></br>- James was also Protestant and had 2 sons by 1600

Question 21

What did Elizabeth’s councillors do in order to strengthen the possibility of James VI being her successor?

Answer 21

• Since her councillors had a vested interest in ensuring that they remained in royal favour, they began to pursue James even before Elizabeth’s death in 1603<br></br>- Essex in particular was in regular contact with James VI, and after Essex’s death in 1601, Sir Robert Cecil kept contact with James and eventually ensured his untroubled succession for which he received due reward<br></br>- Never before in English history had a change of dynasty gone so smoothly, and much of the credit for that must be given to Cecil

Question 22

How was the marriage which Mary, Queen of Scots should make debated?

Answer 22

• Mary made plans for marrying Don Carlos, son of Philip II (a proposal Elizabeth opposed)<br></br>- Elizabeth therefore suggested the Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Arundel and even Robert Dudley<br></br>- But Mary refused

Question 23

Who did Mary, Queen of Scots actually choose to marry?

Answer 23

Lord Darnley, a Scottish noble, whose grandmother was also Margaret Tudor - they were cousins

Question 24

When did the marriage between MQS and Lord Darnley take place?

Answer 24

July 1565

Question 25

How did Elizabeth react to the marriage between MQS and Lord Darnley?

Answer 25

## Footnote Elizabeth was furious, and as the Scottish ambassador stated, their "sisterly familiarity ceased"

Question 26

What happened on 10th February 1567?

Answer 26

## Footnote Lord Darnley was killed and his home Kirk O' Field was blown up

Question 27

What were the circumstances after Lord Darnley's death?

Answer 27

## Footnote - The Earl of Bothwell was the main suspect, and Mary was rumoured to be having an affair with him
- Elizabeth was horrified by the events which she described as an "abominable murder" and urged Mary to distance herself from the whole affair
- Mary, however, defied Elizabeth and married Bothwell

Question 28

When did the marriage between MQS and Lord Bothwell take place?

Answer 28

## Footnote May 1567

Question 29

How did the Scottish people react to the marriage between MQS and Lord Bothwell?

Answer 29

## Footnote - The Lords of the Congregation led an uprising in June 1568
- In July 1567, Mary was forced to abdicate
- Her son, James, became the new King with the Earl of Moray as regent

Question 30

How did Elizabeth react to the forced abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots?

Answer 30

## Footnote - She was furious that any subjects should dare to remove their monarch
- She believed that even Darnley's murder was not as bad as this

Question 31

How did Mary appeal for help from Elizabeth in 1568?

Answer 31

## Footnote - She escaped from Scotland in 1568 and fled to England, seeking help from her cousin
- Mary was to be held indefinitely
- Elizabeth realised that Mary would be much more positive towards England

Question 32

Why was Mary, Queen of Scots up for execution from 1585?

Answer 32

## Footnote - The Babington plot to assassinate Elizabeth led to Babington and his fellow conspirators being executed
- Mary's correspondence was being supervised and she was found to have secretly agreed to the plot

Question 33

What happened in September 1586?

Answer 33

## Footnote - Mary was moved to Fotheringhay castle for trial
- Whilst on trial, Mary refused to accept the legitimacy of the court as you can't put a Queen on trial

Question 34

Why was Mary, Queen of Scots' trial delayed?

Answer 34

## Footnote - Many judges refused to participate because they feared the spiritual results of regicide whilst others recognised that the heir to the throne was Mary's son and feared the future repercussions
- Mary was obviously guilty, but Elizabeth delayed

Question 35

How did the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots finally progress?

Answer 35

## Footnote - William Cecil wanted to finish the job quickly as her continued existence threatened the Protestant state
- Parliament petitioned the Queen to demand execution but she still hesitated

Question 36

What happened on 1st February 1587?

Answer 36

## Footnote Elizabeth signed the execution warrant for MQS, but refused to send it

Question 37

What happened on 8th February 1587?

Answer 37

## Footnote Exacerbated by the delay, Elizabeth's councillors sent the execution warrant without her permission and MQS was executed

Question 38

How did Elizabeth react to her councillors sending MQS' execution warrant without her permission?

Answer 38

## Footnote - She was furious and Cecil was in disgrace for weeks
- Davison, the Secretary of the Council, was sent to the Tower - his career was over

Question 39

Why has the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots been considered inevitable?

Answer 39

## Footnote - Pressure had been building since 1570
- Became irresistible since the outbreak of war with Spain
- Philip has also been cultivating links with the ultra-Catholic Guise family in France
- Mary's involvement in Babington and the plan to assassinate the Queen sealed her fate
- The Bond of Association is evidence that the English establishment intended to take her life

Question 40

What gains were there from the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots?

Answer 40

## Footnote - Most of the English people welcomed it
- Parliament were fully supportive and they were going to have to pay for the on-going war with Spain
- There was no longer a credible Catholic claimant to take her throne and as a result the plots ceased
- Consequently, any future plot could only be seen as an act of war in support of Spain

Question 41

What were Anglo-Spanish relations like in the 1560s?

Answer 41

## Footnote They were usually cordial

Question 42

Why did Anglo-Spanish relations deteriorate towards the end of the 1560s?

Answer 42

## Footnote DUE TO:
- Trading activity of John Hawkins
- The situation in the Netherlands
- The English found opportunities to harass the Spanish

Question 43

How did the trading activity of John Hawkins cause Anglo-Spanish relations to deteriorate towards the end of the 1560s?

Answer 43

## Footnote - Attempted to break the Spanish trading monopoly in the Caribbean
- He so infuriated Spanish interests that in September 1568, his fleet was blockaded in the Mexican port of San Juan de Vivia and only 2 of his ships were able to escape

Question 44

How did the situation in the Netherlands cause Anglo-Spanish relations to deteriorate towards the end of the 1560s?

Answer 44

## Footnote - Philip II wanted a tighter form of political organisation in the Netherlands under more direct Spanish control, which would help root out heresy
- Elizabeth came under pressure from Protestant councillors to aid the Dutch Protestants who feared danger
- Elizabeth was reluctant to take action, having suffered heavily from her French adventure and had qualms about aiding rebels who were fighting sovereign authority

Question 45

How did the English harassing the Spanish cause Anglo-Spanish relations to deteriorate towards the end of the 1560s?

Answer 45

## Footnote - When in November 1568 a storm forced several Spanish vessels carrying 400,000 Florins which was intended to pay the army of the Duke of Alba (Philip's general in the Netherlands) to seek shelter in English ports, Elizabeth impounded the money
- This led Alba to seize English ships and property in the Netherlands

Question 46

What factors further led to the break down of Anglo-Spanish relations by the early 1570s?

Answer 46

## Footnote - Break down in Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Dutch trade
- Philip's encouragement to the Northern Rebellion 1569 and the Ridolfi Plot 1571
- The excommunication of Elizabeth in 1570

Question 47

How did Elizabeth contribute to the decline in relations with Spain in 1572?

Answer 47

## Footnote - Expelled the Sea Beggars from English ports
- They were Dutch pirates who were licenced by rebel leader William of Orange

Question 48

Why was Elizabeth's 1572 expulsion of the Sea Beggars from English ports significant in souring Anglo-Spanish relations?

Answer 48

## Footnote The Sea Beggars were then forced to land at the Dutch port of Brielle and then started a rebellion against Spanish rule of the Netherlands

Question 49

What happened in 1576 in deteriorating Anglo-Spanish relations?

Answer 49

## Footnote - All provinces in the Netherlands were in rebellion against Spain
- They produced a document called the "Pacification of Ghent", which demanded autonomy from Spanish rule
- This was favoured by Elizabeth

Question 50

What was the problem with the Pacification of Ghent 1576?

Answer 50

## Footnote - The provinces of the Netherlands argued and the French prepared to invade
- Elizabeth therefore considered marrying the French Duke of Anjou to maintain English influence in the Netherlands

Question 51

What did the divisions between the provinces of the Netherlands lead to?

Answer 51

## Footnote - Led to the creation of 2 separate entities
- These were the Union of Utrecht (Northern and Protestant) and the Union of Arras (Southern and Catholic)
- Spain made peace with Arras, but the Spanish Duke of Parma began a conquest of the Northern provinces

Question 52

How did Anglo-Spanish relations deteriorate further in 1580?

Answer 52

## Footnote - The Spanish annexed Portugal
- In response, Elizabeth adopted a more anti-Spanish outlook

Question 53

How did Elizabeth become more anti-Spanish after the Spanish annexation of Portugal in 1580?

Answer 53

## Footnote - Supported the Portuguese pretender, Don Antonio
- Knighting Francis Drake on circumnavigating the globe (irritating the Spanish hugely in the process)
- Treating the Spanish ambassador contemptuously
- Such issues served to heighten tensions between England and Spain

Question 54

What did the Spanish annexation of Portugal in 1580 mean?

Answer 54

## Footnote - The kingdom of Portugal had previously been an ally of England, but on the death of the childless King Henry, Philip II took charge
- This gave Philip control of the large Portuguese fleet and the use of major ports such as Lisbon

Question 55

Who was Don Antonio?

Answer 55

## Footnote - A member of the Portuguese royal family
- He was a claimant to the Portuguese throne and his claim was supported by Elizabeth from time to time, who was cynical about him but saw him as a possible weapon to use against the Spanish
- His claim was flawed, however, as he was illegitimate, limiting his usefulness to Elizabeth

Question 56

What happened in 1584?

Answer 56

## Footnote - Parma's reconquest of the northern provinces only left Holland and Zealand in Protestant hands
- As a result, Protestant rebel leader, William of Orange, was assassinated
- This was significant as without the Protestant leader, the area would fall to the Spanish

Question 57

When was the Treaty of Joinville and who was it signed between?

Answer 57

## Footnote Signed at the end of 1584 by Philip II and the Catholic League

Question 58

Why was the Treaty of Joinville 1584 significant?

Answer 58

## Footnote The Catholic League was led by the Guise family, therefore, Philip could now back Mary, Queen of Scots, to be Queen of England

Question 59

What did Elizabeth do in retaliation to the Treaty of Joinville 1584?

Answer 59

## Footnote Elizabeth made an alliance with the Dutch Protestant rebels in the Treaty of Nonsuch 1585 and sent troops to the Netherlands under the command of the Earl of Leicester

Question 60

What were the issues with Elizabeth's retaliatory force sent to the Netherlands in 1585?

Answer 60

## Footnote - The troops, badly and irregularly paid, were so ill disciplined that they alienated the Dutch
- The Dutch felt betrayed when two officers, William Stanley and Rowland Yorke, deserted and joined Parma
- The English commanders quarrelled among themselves
- Leicester quarrelled with the Dutch (who thought Elizabeth was trying to do a deal with Parma behind their backs)

Question 61

What was the outcome of Elizabeth sending a retaliatory force to the Netherlands in 1585?

Answer 61

## Footnote - Leicester returned to England, resigning his command in January 1588
- The fiasco encouraged Philip to think that he could exploit the divisions between the English and Dutch

Question 62

Why did Philip create the Spanish Armada?

Answer 62

## Footnote - Its organisation was highly complex and took over 2 years to come to fruition
- Philip had convinced himself he was doing God's work and that he was engaged in a Catholic crusade
- However, the Spanish fleet was huge with many of the vessels and their crews having been commandeered from the Portuguese

Question 63

Why was the sailing of the Armada delayed?

Answer 63

## Footnote It was the result of a successful English attack on Spanish ships in the harbour at Cadiz in April 1587 - known as the Singeing of the King's Beard

Question 64

Why did Philip II want to invade England?

Answer 64

## Footnote - New world/trade/Drake
- Intervention in the Netherlands
- Religion - Catholic vs Protestant
- Mary, Queen of Scots had been executed

Question 65

What was the Spanish plan of attack?

Answer 65

## Footnote - Build 130 warships
- Gather an army of 35,000 men in the Netherlands, just across the English Channel
- Sail the Armada from Spain to the Netherlands and carry the soldiers from the Netherlands to England
- Depend on the famous power of Spain's land forces
- Pray for God's help

Question 66

What happened on 22nd July 1588?

Answer 66

## Footnote - The Armada finally set sail from La Coruna
- Objective was to reach the port of Gravelines in Spanish Netherlands where it was intended that the Spanish army, commanded by the Duke of Parma, would board the ships so that an invasion of England might be launched

Question 67

What happened on 29th July 1588?

Answer 67

## Footnote Armada sighted off the coast of Cornwall

Question 68

What happened on 30th July - 6th August 1588?

Answer 68

## Footnote Armada engaged in indecisive battle in the English Channel

Question 69

What was the outcome of the Spanish Armada?

Answer 69

## Footnote - The Armada was forced by unfavourable winds to try to return to Spain by the hazardous route of sailing north towards Scotland and then back south to the west of Ireland
- This cost them many more ships, lost in storms

Question 70

Why did the Spanish Armada fail?

Answer 70

## Footnote - Weather - wind blew them on past the meeting point - called the "Protestant wind" - "God blew and they scattered"
- English ships were faster, smaller, had a different fire tactic and more firepower whilst the Spanish ships were much large and harder to manoeuvre
- Medina Sidonia (Spanish commander) inexperienced and seasick compared to English commanders like Drake who were much more experienced
- English tactics helpful - fire ships set fire to Spanish ships and panicked them so they scattered and broke their strong crescent formation

Question 71

What was the significance of the Armada Portrait?

Answer 71

## Footnote - CROWN - English crown, symbolises that she is Queen of England
- HAND ON GLOBE - pointing to the New World (USA) showing that she now is the power of the world
- MERMAID - on front of Drake's ship, but also represents power of the seas
- SHIPS - Armada coming in and Armada destroyed by storm
- WAY SHE IS SITTING - showing her dominance, emphasising how Henry would've done his portraits
- CLOTHING - elaborate, showing her wealth and power
- Portrait done to emphasise her dominance over the world

Question 72

Describe the nature of the continuing war with Spain 1588-1604

Answer 72

## Footnote - War continued for another 16 years - peace was not concluded until after Elizabeth and Philip had died
- The war was fought in the Caribbean, France, the Netherlands and Ireland
- Elizabeth's top priority was national security whilst others at court saw the war as a fight against a Catholic conspiracy - Lord Burghley believed Spain was waging a war of conquest
- Some favoured a minimalistic view by concentrating efforts in the Netherlands
- Others, like John Hawkins, wanted an expensive naval campaign

Question 73

What happened in 1585-1587?

Answer 73

## Footnote England had enjoyed success with small-scale naval attacks in the Caribbean and on mainland Spain

Question 74

What happened in 1595?

Answer 74

## Footnote - England made 3 attacks on mainland Spain and its colonies
- These included a spectacular but short lived victory with the capture and occupation of Cadiz and the sinking of 4 galleons
- However, there was no strategic follow up
- Hawkins and Drake advocated an attack on Parlama, which they regarded as the weakest point in the Spanish empire, but the attack failed and both died at sea

Question 75

What happened in 1596?

Answer 75

## Footnote - Capture of Cadiz humiliated Philip II and prevented Spanish merchant vessels from sailing to the West Indies, which proved a blow to the Spanish
- It provoked Philip into an uncharacteristically incautious response, ordering a fleet to invade England again
- However, by the time it set sail it was well into autumn and defeated by storms
- However, the threat to England remained clear

Question 76

What happened in 1597?

Answer 76

## Footnote - Spanish tried to exploit rebellion in Ireland for their own ends
- To prevent a possible Spanish attack on Ireland, a fleet under the Earl of Essex's command was dispatched to attack the Spanish fleet in a harbour in north-west Spain
- Essex's fleet was driven ack to Plymouth by adverse winds and was eventually used to sail the Azores, suggesting the need for booty had superseded wider strategic considerations again
- Spanish fleet successfully set sail for Ireland and might've landed virtually unopposed if it weren't for the wind

Question 77

What happened in 1599?

Answer 77

## Footnote - Fear of invasion prompted by false intelligence created huge panic in England
- Thereafter, naval activity was directed almost entirely by need to prevent Spanish landings in Ireland
- In the end, little had been achieved at a very great cost

Question 78

What happened in 1588?

Answer 78

## Footnote - For several years after the Armada, the main arena for war on land between England and Spain was the Netherlands
- After Leicester's failures, relations between the English crown and the Dutch improved

Question 79

What happened in 1589?

Answer 79

## Footnote - Sir Francis Vere made commander of English forces and proved highly capable
- He forged a positive relationship with Dutch leader, Maurice of Nassau
- This, combined with Spanish problems of regular troop mutinies and overcommitment in France, ensured that gradually the territories that had been lost to the Duke of Parma were recovered

Question 80

What happened in 1594?

Answer 80

## Footnote - Cost to English of maintaining a force in the Netherlands was high but the Dutch paid a share of the running costs
- Spanish had been expelled from all Northern Netherlands land
- Dutch revolt was successful and some credit was due to the English crown
- English strategic objectives were triumphantly achieved
- Northern Netherlands became an independent state and Southern Netherlands (whilst remaining under Spanish sovereignty) also achieved a degree of autonomy
- No major foreign power was therefore entrenched in the Netherlands

Question 81

Summarise Elizabeth's foreign policy overall

Answer 81

## Footnote - Despite shortcomings and expense, Elizabeth's foreign policy had proved broadly successful
- She and her councils had changed emphasis on foreign policy away from dynastic considerations and desire for glory to a more hard headed approach to what might've constituted a national interest
- Conflict with Spain was long running and expensive, but English ultimately fared the better from the conflict, enhancing Elizabeth's reputation