Parliaments Under Elizabeth I - Notes

1559

• Settlement of Religion
• Conservative opposition in the House of Lords, pushed through by Puritan councillors i.e. Cecil

1553, 1556-7

• MPs pushed Elizabeth for details of the marriage and succession. She saw this as infringement of the royal prerogative
• Elizabeth hindered the passage of bills for further religious reform
• Elizabeth requested money

1571

• Treason laws strengthened
• Subsidy granted to pay for the suppression of the Northern Rebellion
• Strickland removed from the Commons by the Privy Council for attempting to reform the Book of Common Prayer

1572

• MPs called for the execution of Norfolk and MQS
• Elizabeth refused to execute MQS but agreed to execute Norfolk
• Elizabeth prevented the passage of two bills, one debarring MQS from the succession and the other declaring her a traitor

1576

• Peter Wentworth imprisoned by the Commons for demanding freedom of speech
• Parliament voted the Queen a subsidy

1581

• Subsidy granted
• Anti-Catholic laws strengthened
• Act to Retain the Queen's Majesty's Subjects in their Due Obedience

1584-5

• Act Against Jesuits and Seminary Priests
• Act for the Surety of the Queen's Person

1586-7

• Elizabeth asked for advice about MQS
• Anthony Cope and other Presbyterian reformers imprisoned for discussing Cope's "Bill and Book" campaign outside of Parliament

1589

• Parliament voted the Queen a double subsidy to be paid over four years

1593

• Peter Wentworth imprisoned for demanding details of the succession by the Queen
• Opposition to the Bill Against Seditious Sectaries, including from Sir Walter Raleigh, a Crown supporter
• Legislation against recusants passed

1596-7

• Controversy over monopolies
• Four major pieces of social legislation passed including a Poor Law
• Money needed for social and economic crisis

1601

• Further controversy over monopolies. Elizabeth cancelled some immediately by royal proclamation and promised to look into others.
• Elizabeth's "Golden Speech".