The nature of the Elizabethan monarchy: Government and Parliament

Question 1

What means did Elizabeth have to rule England?

Answer 1

• Privy council
• Parliament
• Local government

Question 2

How did Elizabeth initially choose her councillors?

Answer 2

Elizabeth controlled who was on the Privy Council and when she first ascended the throne she chose her councillors from a small group of men, she needed people who she could trust and who knew what they were doing, and so she appointed council members who had also sat in her sister, Marys, privy council.

Elizabeth had a balanced approach to appointing people to her privy council as she wanted to avoid factions.
–> Elizabeth was open and wanted to listen to contrasting views e.g. Cecil and Dudley

Question 3

Amount of people in Es privy council at the start of her reign compared to the end.

Answer 3

Elizabeth’s first Council only had nineteen members, compared to about fifty members under her predecessor, and by her death in 1603, this had been reduced to thirteen.

–> In 1559 the Spanish ambassador believed E governed the country with Cecil, Dudley, Bacon and Parry.

Question 4

What happened to the Privy Council in 1590?

Answer 4

• Key members of the privy council had died, and she didn’t bother reappointing members.
   Cecil, Dudley and Walsingham had all died
• Factions became a problem between Essex (eventually led an uprising against her after his failure in Ireland and he was thus executed) and Robert Cecil (William Cecil’s son)

Question 5

Issue with parliament over marriage

Answer 5

The issue of marriage was a significant one within parliament and the privy council and Elizabeth was continuously pressured to marry in order to provide England with an heir.

Parliament thought it best for Elizabeth to marry Philip, King of Spain, as this would provide an alliance between England and Spain and also an heir, however Elizabeth was adamantly against this.

Both Houses of Parliament saw fit to petition Elizabeth repeatedly on the issues of marriage despite her evasive answers and attempts to stop discussion of marriage.

Question 6

Why was Elizabeth forced to compromise on the issue of Mary Queen of Scots

Answer 6

The combined forces of the two houses and the Privy Council made Elizabeth’s position untenable and she was forced to agree to Marys execution, even though she did not want to.

Question 7

Why was Elizabeth forced to compromise on the issue of Mary Queen of Scots

Answer 7

The combined forces of the two houses and the Privy Council made Elizabeth’s position untenable and she was forced to agree to Mary’s execution, even though she did not want to.

Question 8

How could Elizabeth control parliament?

Answer 8

Elizabeth had a variety of ways in which she could control Parliament; she could call and dissolve parliaments and had the power to veto bills.

Question 9

How could Elizabeth control parliament?

Answer 9

• She could decide when to call parliament
• She could prorogue parliament (suspend parliament)
• She could dissolve parliament (to send parliament away)
• She could veto Bills (she vetoed a Bill which said Mary Queen of Scots could never be queen of England)
• Elizabeth could appoint the speaker of the house, who had the power to decide who was going to speak and what they were going to speak about –> Hugely important role.
• Elizabeth would make speeches e.g. Her golden speech in the 1590s on monopolies, she would also use her gender to her advantage during these speeches.
• Elizabeth would spread rumours

Question 10

Why was parliament adament that Mary Queen of Scots be executed?

Answer 10

Parliament was adamant that Mary Queen of Scots should be executed due to the threat she posed to the stability of the monarchy.

This is because in 1570 the pope issued the papal bull which excommunicated Elizabeth from the Catholic church, meaning that Catholics were free to kill her and not go to hell. This meant that many Catholics used Mary as their figurehead and wanted her to replace Elizabeth. Therefore, parliament saw Mary as being a threat to Elizabeth’s life and repeatedly petitioned Elizabeth to get rid of Mary or make it clear that she would never inherit the English throne.

Question 11

Why and When was Elizabeth forced to agree with Parliament over Mary Queen of Scots?

Answer 11

Elizabeth continued to oppose parliament until 1586 when Mary was found to be involved in the Babington plot against Elizabeth. Elizabeth was thus forced to finally agree with her parliament and have her executed.

Question 12

What was the other issue that arose out of the problem of Mary Queen of Scots and succession?

Answer 12

The issue of Mary Queen of scots and succession also raised concerns about the issue of freedom of speech in parliament.

MPs were not happy with the way that Elizabeth forbade talk over the issue of marriage and succession.

Question 13

What happened in 1576 with Peter Wentworth?

Answer 13

In 1576 Peter Wentworth made a speech in parliament in which he challenged the way the queen-controlled debates through “rumours and messages”,

Wentworth was subsequently committed to the tower.

Question 14

How well did E deal with the issue of freedom of speech?

Answer 14

Elizabeth was able to somewhat control the issue of freedom of speech during her reign as she declared it part of her royal prerogative.

Question 15

How much of a problem did Mary Queen of Scots pose to E?

Answer 15

the issue of Mary Queen of Scots posed a significant problem to Elizabeth, with Elizabeth eventually being forced to cave on the issue of Mary

Question 16

Why was marriage such an important issue?

Answer 16

During the Tudor period, it was expected that monarchs should marry, especially female monarchs as it was believed that a queen needed a husband to make political decisions for her and to organise and lead her military campaigns.

They were also expected to provide a male heir to continue the Tudor dynasty and avoid a civil war should there be no heir.

Question 17

Impact of marriage on factions?

/ Why couldn’t E marry an Englishman?

Answer 17

Elizabeth’s potential marriages to Robert Dudley caused a rise in factional tensions.
If Elizabeth had been completely free to choose who she was to marry, she would have probably chosen Robert Dudley.

However, Elizabeth understood that marrying Robert Dudley would not benefit England if she were to marry him it would only tear apart the country as it could appear as though she were favouring one faction over another.

During the 1560s there was a dangerous factional conflict between Leicester and Sussex, the different factions even began to wear coloured ribbons, and Leicester and Sussex threatened to fight a duel.

Question 18

How did E deal with factions about her marriage and why was this important?

Answer 18

Elizabeth was able to end tensions between the two factions by making it clear that she would not marry Leicester.

Significant as it could lead to civil war if it appeared as though she was favouring one faction over another.

Question 19

Why did people oppose female monarchs?

Answer 19

• There was the belief women had no part in government.

- There was the theological objection especially amongst radical protestants that it was contrary to nature.

Question 20

How did Elizabeth exploit her gender?

Answer 20

• She would bind men to her.
• She sought mens praise to enhance her reputation
• -> e.g. The Faerie Queen was dedicated to her

Question 21

How did Elizabeth exploit her gender?

Answer 21

• She would bind men to her.
• She sought mens praise to enhance her reputation
• -> e.g. The Faerie Queen was dedicated to her in which she was glorified as a “most virtuous and beautiful lady”.
• She expected expected praise of her beauty.

Question 22

Why did the Privy council want E to marry?

Answer 22

The Privy Council were fearful that France and Scotland would unite, and that England would face threats on two fronts now. However, this would not have been such an issue if England and Spain were united through marriage, as it would have been France who would have been between the two nations and so the Privy council wanted Elizabeth to marry Philip This was the insurance that the Privy Council believed England would have if a marriage between Elizabeth and Philip occurred.

Question 23

Why was E able to oppose the privy council of the issue of marriage?

Answer 23

The Privy Council all wanted Elizabeth to marry, however, they could not agree among themselves who she should marry, since they were not united it was thus easy for Elizabeth to ignore their opinions. For example, when it came to the issue of her marriage Elizabeth often dismissed what they had to say.

As we know E didn’t end up marrying showing that she was in control of the privy council over this issue.

Question 24

How did E try to control her council?

Answer 24

Elizabeth would listen to her council’s advice, but she was not bound by it, she tried to keep control over her council by having one-on-one talks with members when discussing policy in order to assert her authority.

Question 25

Why did factions pose a threat?

Answer 25

They could lead to a rebellion

Question 26

Why couldnt Elizabeth marry Dudley?

Answer 26

• His family had a poor reputation.
• Both his dad and grand-dad had been executed as traitors.
• His previous wife died in mysterious circumstances.
• It could create dangerous factional conflict.

Question 27

Why didnt Elizabeth ever marry?

Answer 27

• Risk of rebellion if she were to marry a foreigner or favour a certain faction.
• rise in factional tensions
• Lack of potential suitors as most other powerful monarchs during this time were Catholic.
• Personal reasons

Question 28

Why didnt Elizabeth ever marry?

- risk of rebellion

Answer 28

if Elizabeth were to marry a foreign suitor, England would almost certainly be dragged into foreign wars.

Furthermore, the majority of powerful countries at this time were Catholic, and Elizabeth could not risk marrying a Catholic as this could threaten her religious settlement and in turn threaten her power.

There was also no appetite from the English people for a for foreign King as they had witnessed what had happened when Mary married Philip of Spain and how Spain had an unduly amount of influence on English politics and foreign affairs

Question 29

Why didn’t Elizabeth ever marry an Englishman?

- factions

Answer 29

If she married an Englishman she risked causing a rise in factional tensions.

If Elizabeth had been completely free to choose who she was to marry, she would have probably chosen Robert Dudley.

However, Elizabeth understood that marrying Robert Dudley would not benefit England if she were to marry him it would only tear apart the country as it could appear as though she were favouring one faction over another.

During the 1560s there was a dangerous factional conflict between Leicester and Sussex, the different factions even began to wear coloured ribbons, and Leicester and Sussex threatened to fight a duel.

Elizabeth ended the tensions between the two factions by making it clear that she would not marry Leicester.

Furthermore, Leicester was not a suitable match also due to the fact that Dudley’s family did not have a good reputation, his father and grandfather had been executed as traitors, Dudley was also married, and his wife later died in mysterious circumstances, causing some to suspect that he had murdered her in order to marry Elizabeth.

Overall, the main reason why Elizabeth could not marry an English suitor as it could lead to civil war if it appeared as though she was favouring one faction over another.

Question 30

Why Elizabeth did not marry?

- personal reasons

Answer 30

Elizabeth would have witnessed the way Henry treated other women and the fact that he sentenced her mother to death would have likely had a lasting impact on her, even though she was only two years old.

Furthermore, there is some evidence to suggest that Elizabeth was assaulted by her step-father Edward Seymour.
–> According to Elizabeth’s governess Kat Ashley, Seymour would visit Elizabeth’s chambers early in the morning and would tickle her in bed when she was 14, and he was 39.

On a separate occasion, Seymour wrestled with Elizabeth in the gardens at Hanworth and cut Elizabeth’s gown into pieces.

If these accusations against Seymour were to be true, it could be a reason as to why Elizabeth never married.

Additionally, Elizabeth witnessed her sister Marys marriage which was not the best relationship as Mary was often left alone by Philip and controlled by him.

Mary ended losing power to her husband and was manipulated and controlled to some degree by him, as he convinced her to get involved in wars with France, which cost England Calais.

Overall, witnessing how destructive Marys marriage was to Philip, her mother’s execution at the hand of her father and receiving unwanted advances from Seymour would have meant that Elizabeth was in no rush to get married as any man she married would have authority over her and Elizabeth understandably did not want this.

Question 31

Francis, Duke of Anjou

Answer 31

The closest Elizabeth came to marriage was to Francis, Duke of Anjou who was a French Catholic.

Despite the considerable age gap, the pair became very close, Francis was one of the few suitors who courted Elizabeth in person .

Elizabeth referred to him as her ‘frog’, and they exchanged a number of affectionate letters.

Elizabeth eventually abandoned the thought of marrying Francis as he was foreign and Catholic, which could cause civil unrest as her subjects would most likely not be happy with the union

Question 32

Prince Eric of Sweden

Answer 32

Prince Eric of Sweden was a Protestant who courted Elizabeth for several years. However, he was ultimately unsuccessful partly due to the fact that he was not of high enough ranking