State of country when Elizabeth came to throne

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  • State of the country in 1558
    • Government
      • In debt by £250,000.
      • Not enough money to pay for a full time army.
      • Navy had been strengthened.
    • Religion
      • England was divided by religion: Catholicism, Protestantism and Puritanism.
    • The economy
      • The cloth trade had collapsed in the early 1550s. This led to prices rising quickly.
      • After several bad harvest, the harvest in 1558 was good.
    • Society
      • 3 million people lived in a hierarchical society in England and Wales.
        • Women were seen inferior to men.
        • Poverty and unemployment were growing amongst lower classes.
    • Relations with other countries
      • Allies with Spain (powerful Roman Catholic country).
        • Philip of Spain was married to Mary Tudor and now wishes to marry Elizabeth.
      • 1558- France and England at war. Same year Mary Stuart claimed that she was the rightful Queen of England.
    • Reactions to the new Queen
      • E was popular when she came to throne: she was young, single, completely of English blood and seemed to offer a fresh start. Some nobles hoped to marry her.
      • Many were worried because she was a women and many thought that women were weaker rulers than men.
    • Cultural Development
      • Renaissance has spread to England.
      • Invention of printing press meant boos could be mass produced.
      • People starting to discover other parts of the world. Eg. The New World of the Americas.

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