England in 1558

Government on Elizabeth's accession
1. the court - made up of noblemen who acted as the monarch's advisors and friends. Advised monarch & helped display her wealth and power. Members could also be part of the privy council.
2. Justices of the Peace - large landowners; appointed by government, who kept law and order locally and head court cases.
3. Lord Lieutenants - noblemen, appointed by government, who governed English countries and raised local militia (force of ordinary people, not the military, raised in an emergency
4. parliament - advised Elizabeth's government, made up of the House of Lords (noblemen + bishops) and the House of Commons (elected, though very few people could vote). Parliament passed laws and approved taxes.
  1. Elizabeth did not possess complete power- could not pass laws without parliament's approval, or raise taxes without their agreement.
Society on Elizabeth's accession
1. Elizabethan society very rigid- based on inequality and a social hierarchy in which everyone knew their place.
2. obedience and care- wherever you were in Elizabethan society, you owed obedience and respect to those above you, and had a duty of care over those below you. Landowners ran their estates based on these ideas, ideally they took care of their tenants in times of hardship.
  1. households were run along similar lines- husband and father was head of the household, wife, children and any servants were expected to be obedient to him.
3. the countryside (where 90% of population lived)
  1. gentry- owned small estates
  2. nobility- major land owners
  3. yeoman farmers- owned a small amount of land
  4. tenant farmers- rented land from yeoman and gentry
  5. landless + labouring poor- people who didn't own or rent land, worked or laboured to provide for themselves and family
  6. homeless + vagrants - moved from place to place looking for work.
4. towns (where 10% of population lived)
  1. merchants - wealthy traders
  2. professionals - lawyers, doctors, clergymen
  3. business owners- skilled craftsmen such as silversmiths, tailors and carpenters
  4. craftsmen- skilled employees, including apprentices
  5. unskilled labourers and unemployed- people with no regular work
Virgin Queen : legitimacy, gender and marriage
1. Problems facing Elizabeth when she became queen (1558)
  1. only 21- young and lacked experience, so needed support from her Privy council
  2. her government needed money
  3. to pass laws, needed support from Parliament
  4. legitimacy in doubt as people refused to recognise her mother's marriage to Henry VIII (as he divorced his first wife to marry her, and excluded her from the line of succession when he executed Anne Boleyn, though he later reversed this decision)
  5. Catholics refused to acknowledge her right to rule
  6. Elizabeth was Protestant, her predecessor Mary was Catholic, so many Catholics disliked her. and there was a risk of rebellion.
  7. Elizabeth was unmarried, and it was unusual for a woman to rule in her own right, as Christian traditions suggested that women should follow men's authority. Many disapproved of the idea of a queen who actually ruled.
    1. Marriage would reduce Elizabeth's power as her husband would be expected to govern the country. If she married a protestant, this would anger Catholics, and vice versa. Marriage could also involve England in expensive wars, and the crown was already £300,000 in debt. However, it was important as she needed an heir.
2. known as 'Virgin Queen' as she remained unmarried.
3. Elizabeth's character and strengths
  1. well educated- spoke Latin, Greek, French and Italian
  2. confident and charismatic - enabled her to win over her subjects and command support from Parliament
  3. resilient- spent time in the tower accused of treason and facing possible execution- could cope with the pressures of being queen
  4. excellent grasp of politics- understood the interests and ambitions of her subjects, was able to use her powers of patronage (granting land, jobs and titles to supporters) effectively.
  5. was Protestant, and as the number of protestants in England was growing, she could make her position of queen more secure and could claim divine right with growing conviction.
4. Able to reinvent herself as a different kind of monarch. Liked to demonstrate that although she was female, she was no ordinary woman, and could therefore argue that she did not need to marry and could govern England alone. Happy to portray herself as a strong, legitimate, popular monarch, and a 'Virgin queen' married only to England and not to a prince or a King. Paintings of her coronation showed her as a confident, feminine monarch rightfully crowned Queen.
Challenges at home; financial weaknesses
1. financial weaknesses in 1558
  1. crown was £300,000 in debt, had an annual income of £286,667
  2. over £100,000 of Crown debts was owed to foreign moneylenders with an interest rate of 14%
  3. Mary Tudor had sold off Crown's lands to pay for wars with France, so income from rents was falling
  4. Elizabeth needed money to remain secure on her throne as she could use it to reward her supporters
  5. since 1540, coin was devalued as the crown debased the coinage, causing inflation as currency was no longer worth as much.
2. How monarchs could raise money
  1. rents and income from their own lands
  2. taxes from trade (known as customs duties)
  3. special additional taxes, known as subsides which had to be approved by Parliament
  4. profits of justice (fines, property or lands from convicts)
  5. Loans- sometimes forced and never repaid
3. what could be done/what she actually did
  1. COULD- raise taxes to boost crown's income.. However, additional taxes would be unpopular, increasing risk of unrest
  2. COULD- improve quality of money by increasing gold and silver content in the coinage. Suggested by Thomas Gresham (Crown's financial adviser) in 1560, but Crown was too slow to respond. it would have also been difficult to exchange old coins for new ones.
  3. DID- hoard income instead of raising taxes, cut her household expenses by half. Sold Crown's lands raising £120,000. Out of debt by 1574.
4. Despite her careful management of finances, there was little reform. Parliamentary grants were raised locally, many landowners acting as Lord Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace pocketed some proceeds before passing them onto the Crown. Ordinary people faced higher financial burden whereas wealthy benefitted.
Challenges Abroad: France, Scotland and Spain
1. French threat- French wealthier and had bigger population. Elizabeth's cousin, Mary Queen of Scots was married to the heir to the French Throne. Mary had a strong claim to the English throne and English Catholics may rally to her if invaded.
2. The Auld Alliance- France's alliance with Scotland threatened England. Mary of Guise (James V's widow), who ruled Scotland on behalf of her daughter Mary Queen of Scots, kept French soldiers there who could attack England., Relationship between France and Scotland was further strengthened by the marriage between Francis (heir to French throne) and Mary Queen of Scots, in 1558. Francis became King of France in 1559.
3. Under Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis- England lost Calais to France. This was England's last remaining territory on the continent and there was pressure to regain it, however, war with France would be expensive and dangerous.
4. War was expensive- The Crown was in debt, England could not afford a war with France, Scotland or Spain.
5. France ended its war with Spain- French military resources were no longer preoccupied with with Spain, making war with England more likely. There was a possibility of France and Spain (both Catholic countries) uniting against Protestant England. Spain also had troops in the Netherlands, not far from England.
6. How Elizabeth dealt with this:
  1. did her best to avoid upsetting Europe's most powerful countries.
    1. Sought to avoid war with France by signing The Peace of Troyes (1564) which recognised Calais as France's
      1. dealt with Scottish threat by placing Mary Queen of Scots (who fled England in 1568) in custody in England

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England in 1558

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