Elizabeth I - Character and aims
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- Created by: KingLou99
- Created on: 18-05-17 09:12
Elizabeth I - Character and aims
Character and aims
- Acceded throne at 25 -> Elizabeth = well educated, shrewd grasp of political processes, shrewd judge of character -> showed political skill when marking letter to Mary with diagonal lines so it couldn't be doctored -> December 1558 Spanish ambassador said Elizabeth = more feared than her half-sister
- No desire to be involved in details of government
- Determined to preserve prerogative powers of Crown
- Short term aims = consolidate position + settle religious issues + peaceful settlement with French
Consolidation of power
- Mary died 17 November 1558 -> Mary's councillors made no attempt to interfere with succession -> Mary recognised Elizabeth's right of succession
- Following Mary's death, Nicholas Heath announced Mary's death to parliament + proclaimed Elizabeth's succession -> leglly had no right to -> 9 Mary's councillors assured Elizabeth of loyalty
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Elizabeth I - Character and aims
- William Cecil appointed principal secretary -> partnership would last 40 years -> kept Mary's councillors guessing about intentions
- Familiar with monarch customs -> took herself to Tower to be seen by subjects + organise pageants
- Proceeded quickly to coronation (2 months) -> 15 January
- International confirmation -> Spain tried marriage alliance between Elizabeth + Philip
Elizabethan religious settlement
- Legal status of Church not altered with death death of Mary = remained part of Catholic Church of Rome -> no doubt English Church would be reinstated with monarch at its head
- Settlement embraced 2 Acts of Parliament, issue of set up injunctions, publication of new Book of Common Prayer -> Thirty-Nine Articles introduced 1563
Act of Supremacy, 1559
- Restored royal supremacy in Church -> papal supremacy rejected
- Reformation legislation under Henry VIII restored
- Heresy law = repealed
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Elizabeth I - Character and aims
- Powers of royal visitation of the Church revived = Crown appointed commissioners to 'visit, reform, order, correct and ammend all such errors' -> Act Boom of the Visitors in the Province of York indicated visitors only interested in bishops + deans + cathedral canons
- Queen = 'supreme governor'
- Restored legal position of Crown in relation to Church -> Crown could act in matters relating to Church
Act of Uniformity
- Specified use of single Book of Common Prayer = modified version of Cranmer's 1552 version -> variations in Eucharistic belief were permitted -> 'Black Rubric' (practice of kneeling at the administration of the Eucharist) was omitted
- Ornaments in Church should be from before Act of Uniformity 1549 -> returning Protestant exiles didn't expect this to be enforced, particularly dress of clergymen -> Calvanist clergy saw ornaments as 'popish' = objected
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Elizabeth I - Character and aims
Royal Injunctions, 1559
- Instructions about conduct of Church services + government of Church
- 1st injunction emphasised that Eucharists be administered at communion table rather than altar -> removal of 'things superstitious' = pilgrimages + candles -> attacked traditional Catholic practices
- Parish churches required to purchase English bible + copy of Erasmus' Paraphrases
- Visitors nominated by Cecil = strongly Protestant
- Wives of clergy had to produce certificate signed by 2 JPs
Significance of the settlement
- Historian John Neale argues queen faced pressure from radical clergymen = accepted more Protestant settlement than wanted
- Winthrop Hudson argues Elizabeth + ministers intended firmly Protestant settlement -> no intention to restore Edwardian prayer book
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Elizabeth I - Character and aims
Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, 1559
- Peace treaty concluded April 1559 -> England + France agreement over issue of Calais -> France keep Calais for 8 years -> Calais would be returned to England -> if Calais not returned French pay 500,000 crowns to England
Intervention in Scotland
- Henry II of France died June 1559 = succeeded by Francis II -> wife was Mary, Queen of Scots -> brought Catholic Guise faction to power
- French troops sent to garrison major Scottish fortresses = conflict with Lords of the Congregation
- Cecil supported intervention -> sympathised with religious situation of Scottish Protestants -> sought removal of Mary, Queen of Scots + incorporate Scotland with wider British State -> threatened to resign if Elizabeth didn't support him
- December 1559 navy sent to Firth of Forth to stop French reinforcements
- March 1560 army sent to north
- Navy blockaded Leith -> siege failed -> French withdrew + Mary of Guise died -> Treaty of Edinburgh July 1560
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Elizabeth I - Character and aims
- Francis II died December 1560 = Guise fell from power = Mary Stuart returned to Scotland
Intervention in France
- Conflict between Catholics + Protestants in France March 1562 -> Robert Dudley encouraged military pressure on French Crown to ensure Calais returned
- Elizabeth promised Huguenot leader 6000 men + 30,000 pounds loan
- Huguenot army defeated -> Duke of Guise assassinated = both sides agreed peace + drove out English -> England sought peace in Treaty of Troyes 1564
- Elizabeth became more cautious about supporting European Protestant causes
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