Elizabeth I & Rebellion

Two northern noblemen, the Earl of Westmorland and the Earl of Northumberland, led a rebellion against Elizabeth.

• Elizabeth I refused to let the Duke of Norfolk marry her Catholic cousin, Mary Queen of Scots.
  • Many nobles in the north of England were Catholics and were hostile to the Protestants from the South who controlled many of affairs in the north.
• Two northern noblemen, the Earl of Westmorland and the Earl of Northumberland, led a rebellion against Elizabeth

• Elizabeth I had confiscated a lot of land from the Earl of Northumberland. She had then given this land to his principal rival in the north and a Protestant nobleman from the south.
• In November 1569, the two Earls held an illegal Catholic mass in Durham Cathedral. 4,600 men marched with them as they headed south.
  • The loyalist Earl of Sussex raised troops against them and they dispersed

• Elizabeth I executed Northumberland and Westmorland escaped to France. The Duke of Norfolk was imprisoned.
• The plot had tried to maintain the northern nobles’ independence. In fact, it led to increased repression and government control in the region.
• Henry Hastings, a Puritan, was installed as leader of the Council of the North (which helped to govern the region)

Lots of people thought women could not rule and this created problems. The Earl of Essex led an important rebellion in 1601 against Elizabeth.

• Essex had successfully led the forces which attacked the Spanish port of Cadiz in 1596.
• When he returned, an argument at court resulted in Elizabeth hitting him on the head after he turned his body away from her.
  • He had to be restrained by fellow courtiers and was placed under house arrest

Essex was sent to Ireland but failed to deal with the rebellion there and fell out of favour.

• He lost his sweet wine monopoly, and with it power and influence

• Because of his fall from favour, he gathered forces to lead a rebellion. He took four privy councillors hostage in February 1601.
• His rival Robert Cecil called him a traitor, and many of his approximately 200 supporters deserted him. Essex was arrested along with his remaining followers.

This was the final challenge to Elizabeth’s authority and it was defeated easily

The Earl of Tyrone, Hugh O'Neill, led a rebellion against the Crown. Lasting for nine years, this rebellion seriously threatened Elizabeth's authority in Ireland.

• Relations between Ireland and England had been strained from when Edward VI started his policy of plantation (where the Crown took land in Ireland and colonised it with English settlers).
  • So Ireland was England's first colony.
• Hostility grew in response to this colonisation.
• Ireland was also a Catholic country. Tensions developed following the English's attempts to impose Protestantism.
• The Earl of Tyrone and other Irish lords wanted to rid Ireland of the English settlers

• The rebellion began in 1593.
• In 1598, the Earl of Tyrone and his forces defeated English troops at the Battle of Yellow Ford.
• The Earl of Essex was sent in 1599 to deal with the rebellion. But he failed to control the rebels in Ireland. He made a truce and returned to England with the queen’s consent.
• Elizabeth I then sent Lord Mountjoy, who eventually defeated the rebellion in 1603

• The Earl of Essex's failure to stop Tyrone's rebellion led to his loss of influence at court. He proceeded to launch his own rebellion against the Crown in 1601.
• Elizabeth I's successor, James I would deal with the leaders of the rebellion