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Elizabethan England - Troubles at home and abroad

31 important questions on Elizabethan England - Troubles at home and abroad

What was the Act of Supremacy?

In Elizabeth's Act of Supremacy she altered the title (Supreme Head of Church) to make herself the Supreme Governor if the English Church
This gave Elizabeth control of the English Church without actually calling herself the head
This satisfied people who believed a woman couldn't lead the Church,

What were the reforms of the Act of Uniformity? (3)

Going to church was compulsory and absence resulted in fines
A new Book of Common Prayer was issued which had to be used in all churches
All parishes have to have a copy of the Bible in English.

What were the concessions of the Act of Uniformity? (2)

The wording of the communion service was kept deliberately vague so that it could be accepted by both religions
Churches were allowed to keep some decoration and priests had to wear certain catholic vestments

Who was Mary Queen of Scots? (4)

Mary was related to the Tudors through her Grandmother Margaret who was Henry VIII's sister
As she was Catholic, many Catholics supported her claim
She became Queen of Scotland when she was just 6 days old and her mother acted as a regent whilst she was raised in France
She married the heir to the French Throne when she was 15 but he died two years later and she returned to Scotland.

Why did Mary flee to England in 1568? (4)

In 1565 Mary married Lord Darnley who hated her personal secretary and thought they were having an affair so he stabbed David Rizzio to death
In 1567 Darnley was murdered and people believed it was Mary and Earl of Bothwell. This seemed to be confirmed when they married a few months later.
This marriage was unpopular with the Scottish nobles who rebelled and forced her to abdicate.
In 1568 Mary escaped from prison and raised an army which was defeated so she fled to England

Why were the Northern Nobles unhappy? (4)

Many were still committed Catholics who wanted ti see the restoration of Catholicism and Mary's arrival gave them hope
Elizabeth had confiscated land from the Earl of Northumberland and shared it between his main rivals Southern Protestants .
Elizabeth reduced the power of northern nobles and increased her control in the north through the Council of the North made of southern protestants
They blamed Elizabeth's PC for this

What occurred in the Northern rebellion? (5)

The Duke of Norfolk planned to marry Mary and have her recognised as heir.
When the plan was uncovered they feared execution and in attempt to escape punishments, they rebelled and tried to overthrow Elizabeth.
In November 1569 they captured Durham where they celebrated Catholic Mass and marched south to were Mary was imprisoned
A large royal army forced them to retreat, many deserted and fled to Scotland
Elizabeth showed them little mercy

Why was the revolt a serious threat to Elizabeth's rule? (3)

It was the most serious rebellion of Elizabeth's reign and showed the danger that Mary represented as a rallying point for English Catholics,
News of the rebellion created widespread fear among English Protestants about the threat posed by Catholics which contributed to the anti-catholic feelings.
There was little for the revolt among the rest of Catholic nobility making it the last time Catholics tried to remove Elizabeth by force.

What did the Pope expelling Elizabeth from the Catholic Church mean?

In 1570 Elizabeth was excommunicated meaning Catholics no longer had to obey the Queen and could attempt to overthrow her.
Together with the revolt this changed Elizabeth's attitude towards Catholics, she began to see them as potential traitors.
In response Parliament passed the Treason Act in 1571 stating that anyone who claimed Elizabeth wasn't the legitimate leader could face the death penalty.

How did Missionary Priests strengthen Catholicism? (4)

in 1568 William Allen founded a missionary college at Douai to train English Catholic Priests who would return and secretly minister to English Catholics
In 1580 Campion entered the country and was executed for treason in 1581
In the 1560s Elizabeth had tolerated recusancy as she believed it would die out as the religious settlement became more firmly established.
The arrival of the missionary priests made it unlikely that Catholicism would just fade away

What was parliaments response to missionary priests? (4)

Parliament passed two anti-catholic Acts in 1581

Increased fines for recusancy
Introduced fines and prison for people who attended or said Mass
Made it treason to convert to Catholicism or convince others to convert
Introduced prison or death for people who encouraged rebellion.

What were the Catholic plots? (4)

Between 1571 and 1585 there were the Ridolfi plot(1571), the Throckmorton plot (1583) and the Babington plot (1586)
They were supported by the Pope and King Philip II of Spain
The plots were a real threat to Elizabeth and her religious settlement
There was a highly efficient spy network (Francis Walsingham) which uncovered plots before they were carried out.

How did the persecution of Catholics increase in the 1580s? (2)

In 1584 the Dutch Protestant Leader was assassinated
As a result of this and the Catholic Plots Elizabeth passed two more laws and persecution increased

What were the two Anti-Catholic Laws passed in 1585?

Mary wouldn't be allowed to become Queen if Elizabeth was assassinated in hope to stop plots
Missionary priests had 40 days to leave the country or they (and whoever helped them) would be executed.

Why was Mary Queen of Scots executed? (5)

Francis Walsingham used his spy network to gather evidence of Mary's involvement in the Babington Plot by decoding her letters.
Mary had been implicated in Catholic plots before but Elizabeth refused to take action, however this evidence finally persuaded her to put Mary on trial.
In October 1586 Mary was found guilty, however Elizabeth was very reluctant to execute Mary (Divine Right)
Parliament and PC put pressure on her to sign the execution papers.
Eventually Elizabeth agreed and Mary was executed on 8th February

What affect did Mary's execution have on opposition from home?

It removed the Catholic threat as English Catholics now had no-one to rally around and lost hope of ever reversing the religious settlement

What affect did Mary's execution have on opposition from abroad? (2)

Relations with Span were at a low point as the two countries were now at war over the Netherlands and King Philip II had been preparing for an attack on England since 1585. Mary's execution made him even more determined.
There was also a danger Mary's son would seek revenge for his mothers death and form an alliance with Catholic powers in order to invade England

What was the Puritan threat? (5)

They were strongly anti-catholic and wanted to remove all traces of Catholicism from Church.
They believed in preaching and thought all priests should be educated enough to preach
Puritans also encouraged the education of ordinary people so they would be able;e to read and understand the Bible for themselves
Veyr strict about godly living
Some more radical puritans wanted to get rid of the Church hierarchy (threatening Elizabeth as governor)

What did Archbishop Whitgrift do? (of Canterbury) (4)

With Elizabeth's support he launched an attack on Puritan clergy- all priests had to accept the regulations of the Church or face suspensions (200-300 suspended)
Made some puritans feel there was no hope of reforming the Church of England and broke away to form a separate Church
These were a major threat to the religious settlement and censorship was introduced to prevent their ideas being spread.
The threat separatists wasn't as serious as initially thought as most powerful members of the elite were moderates who worked within the Church of England

What were the political tensions with Spain?

Spain was a great imperial power within Europe as Philip ruled Spain , the Netherlands, parts of Italy and he had a large Empire in America. By 1570s England had ambitious for an empire of its own

What were the religious tensions with Spain?

Philip was a devout Catholic and disliked Elizabeth's religious settlement and became involved in several Catholic settlements damaging Elizabeth's trust in him.

What were the Economic tensions with Spain?

Elizabeth had encouraged privateers to trade illegally with Spanish colonies, raid Spanish ships and attack the treasure fleets carrying gold and silver from America to Spain

Why did England and Spain go to war over the Netherlands? (4)

Protestant rebels in the Netherlands declared independence from Spain
in 1584 William the silent was assassinated and the revolt was in danger of being defeated.
Elizabeth decided to help the rebels by signing the Treaty of Nonsuch promising: military assistance, religious, economic and military factors.
She did this to protect Dutch protestantism, to ensure merchants would have access to ports like Antwerp and to avoid invasion

What did Philip think about the Treaty of Nonsuch?

He saw it as a declaration for war and began building a huge fleet that he planned to use to invade England.

What did Elizabeth send Drake to do? (4)

Drake was sent to spy on Spanish preparations and attack their ships and supplies
In April 1587 he attacked the port of Cadiz and destroyed around 30 ships and seized many tonnes of supplies.
He delayed the Armada for almost a year and obtained expensive supplies and weapons straining Spanish finances.
He captured planks of unseasoned wood meaning the Spanish had to keep their food and water in unseasoned wood barrels meaning they couldn't preserve food and water very well.

What were the events leading up to the Spanish Armada? (4)

The Armada planned for the Duke of Medina Sidonia to lead 180 ships, 8000 sailors and 18,000 soldiers to meet the Duke of Parma at Dunkirk to combine forces and travel to the English Channel.
It set out in May 1588, but was delayed for several weeks by bad weather and English attempts to intercept it
In July the Spanish fleet was sighted off Cornwall and beacons were lit along the south coast to send the news to Elizabeth
English ships set sail from Plymouth to meet the Armada.

What events took place after the Armada?(4)

Medina Sidonia decided to call off the attack on England and return to Spain by sailing around Scotland to Ireland
The Spanish sailors were unfamiliar with this dangerous route and encountered several Atlantic Storms.
Many ships sank or were wrecked on the Scottish or Irish coasts where the locals showed little mercy
Those ships that completed the journey ran short of supplies and many died of starvation and disease.

How did the English strengths contribute to the outcome of the Armada? (4)

English had built long, narrow ships which were faster and easier to handle
English cannons could be reloaded faster
English had better tactics and stayed out of range with their greater mobility and fired broadsides (massive barrages of cannonballs) which could sink them.
The English fleet was manned by experienced sailors

How did the Spanish weaknesses contribute to the outcome of the Armada (3)

Most Spanish men lacked experience
Relied on large ships which were heavy and difficult to handle
Plan to meet the Duke of Parma was seriously flawed as they didn't control a deep water port where they could anchor safely whilst waiting for Parma's troops to escape the Dutch blockade making them very vulnerable for attack

How did Luck contribute to the outcome of the Armada? (2)

The death of Spain's leading admiral, Santa Cruz lead to the appointment of the inexperienced Duke of Medina Sidonia to lead the Armada
The weather made it impossible to return to the defensive formation and forced them to travel into dangerous waters off the Scottish and Irish quotes.

What did England's victory result in? (5)

The Victory contributed to England's development as a strong naval power
It removed threat of Spanish invasion
England went on many more voyages
The English victory boosted Elizabeth's popularity
It strengthened the protestant cause

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