Introduction to Elizabeth I.

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  • Created by: Taylor
  • Created on: 21-01-15 15:22

Role of a Monarch 1

Deciding policy:

o   Declaring war, going to war and making peace

o   Settling issues, including religious doctrine, arising from previous reigns

o   Determining relations with other countries

o   Ensuring the succession of the dynasty

o   Promoting economic growth and trade.

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Role of a Monarch 2

Enforcing policy:

o   Providing a framework of laws to protect people from crime and disorder

o   Dealing with threats to internal security, such as rebellions

o   Ensuring the courts work effectively.

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Role of a Monarch 3

  Raising revenue:

o   Collecting money from the crown’s ordinary sources of revenue, including rents from land, customs duties from imports, fines from legal rulings and feudal dues traditionally paid to the monarch by the nobility (when land changed hands for example)

o   Ensuring that extraordinary taxation, to meet the expenses of both going to war and defending the country against attack, was approved by Parliament and then collected.

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Role of the Parliament.

Nowadays, the English Parliament is virtually continuously in session. In the reign of Elizabeth it was called only 
rarely. It sat for less than three years of her forty-five year reign. 

Members of the House of Commons were elected by shires and boroughs. 

The monarch had the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament. 

Parliament had three main functions - legislation, advice, and taxation. 

The first of these, legislation, required the consent of Queen, Lords, and Commons. Every law began as a bill. After it had been read and approved three times in both houses, the bill was sent to the Queen for her assent. If she agreed, it then became an Act of Parliament.

The official summons to Parliament called on the Members to advise the monarch, but in practice Elizabeth was rarely interested in the opinions of her Members of Parliament.


The main purpose of Parliament so far as Elizabeth I was concerned was to vote taxation. It was generally believed that a monarch should pay for the 
day-to-day administration of. Parliamentary taxation was meant to cover extraordinary expenditure - especially war. In fact Parliamentary taxation never supplied enough to cover Elizabeth's military expenditures. 

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Financing the Monarch.

The main function of Parliament was dealing with financial matters such as taxation and granting the queen money. Generally, the monarch paid for daily administration with ordinary revenues which included customs, feudal dues, and sales of land. While Parliament covered extraordinary expenditures such as war with taxation. However, taxation didn’t supply enough for military expenditures; therefore, more land was sold along with probably illegal scheming.

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How was the country governed.

Monarch - a sovereign head of state, especially a king, queen, or emperor.

Privy council - a body of advisers appointed by a sovereign.

Parliament - A group of representatives, called Parliament, was divided into the House of Lords, which consisted of nobility and higher clergy such as bishops and archbishops, and the House of Commons, which consisted of common people.

Local Governments -This was very important in Elizabethan England they were royal reprsentatives such as justices of peace, sherrifs and lord lieutenants were appointed in every country they ensured the queens commands and laws were obeyed.

Courts - Made up the judicial system of Elizabethan England.

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Structure of society.

Monarch - This era was led by Queen Elizabet I , the sixth and last ruler of tudor. Queen Elizabeth I was considered by many to be Englands best Monarch

Nobility - Western Europe Map Society began to form along new lines during the Tudor years and it was an age of individuality. Nobility and knights were still at the top of the social ladder. These men were rich and powerful, and they have large households.

Gentry - The Gentry class included knights, squires, gentlemen, and gentlewomen who did not work with their hands for a living. Their numbers grew during Queen Elizabeth’s reign and became the most important social class in England. Wealth was the key to becoming a part of the gentry class. This class was made of people not born of noble birth who by acquiring large amounts of property became wealthy landowners.

Merchant - The Tudor era saw the rise of modern commerce with cloth and weaving leading the way. The prosperous merchant class emerged from the ashes of the Wars of the Roses. The prosperity of the wool trade led to a surge in building and the importance cannot be overstated. Shipping products from England to various ports in Europe and to the New World also became a profitable business for the merchants

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Structure of society 2.

Yeomanry - This was the “middling” class who saved enough to live comfortably but who at any moment, through illness or bad luck be plunged into poverty. This class included the farmers, tradesmen and craft workers. They took their religion very seriously and could read and write.

Laborer - The last class of Elizabethan England was the day laborers, poor husbandmen, and some retailers who did not own their own land. Artisans, shoemakers, carpenters, brick masons and all those who worked with their hands belonged to this class of society. In this class we can also put our great swarms of idle serving-men and beggars

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Catholicism and puritanism.

Catholicism.

Catholicism is the faith, practice, and church order of the Roman Catholic Church. this means the adherence to the forms of Christian doctrine and practice which are generally regarded as Catholic rather than Protestant or Eastern Orthodox.

Puratinism.

The Puritans were a group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries, including, but not limited to, English Calvinists.

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