Elizabeth I (Tudor)
1558-1603
Elizabeth The Person
Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Red-headed, fiery temperament (Hit others regularly!!!)
25 years old when she inherited the Throne of England from Mary Tudor
"Virgin Queen" (never married but often pursued and encouraged to!)
"More than a man and sometimes less than a woman!"
2000 jewel encrusted gown
Command of Greek and Latin; Spoke English, French Italian and Spanish fluently
She was totally aware of the prejudices against a woman ruler and used it to her advantage
She dealt well with religious problems, a rival queen, Spanish ambitions and financial difficulties
The first six years of her reign were tumultuous and she barely escaped with her life!
She goes down in history as one of England's greatest rulers.
Elizabeth's Solutions
I. Religious Issues
¨ When Elizabeth gained the throne there were great divisions among the English.
¨ Mary Tudor had been a devout Catholic.
¨ Elizabeth established a state church to satisfy both divisions. "Church of England"
¨ 1559, Parliament granted an Act of Uniformity to set up the national church. She also received a new Act of Supremacy, which gave her control over government and church!
¨ Services were in English; priests could marry but still wore rich robes and golden crucifixes. Her Queen's Book of Common Prayer was very vague.
¨ She did all of this for loyalty and obedience.
II. Rivalries Within the Family
¨ Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, plotted against Elizabeth for the throne. (Cousins)
¨ The Vatican backed her because of Elizabeth's new Church of England.
¨ Mary Stuart began to be challenged by the new Presbyterians of John Knox and she had to flee to England for protection. Elizabeth graciously accepted her.
¨ Mary Stuart still plotted an overthrow and in 1587 was beheaded by Elizabeth's orders! Elizabeth mourned the loss of her cousin.
III. Spanish Ambitions
¨ Phillip II, King of Spain, also mourned Mary Stuart's beheading because he was Catholic. He had been married to Mary Tudor and pursued marriage with Elizabeth after Mary's death.
¨ Spain and England have a serious problem with relations. Within a month of Mary Stuart's death a fleet from Spain came to England!
¨ Phillip approached Elizabeth about marriage to mend the relationship.
¨ She deliberately put off all suitors to gain an advantage.
¨ She secretly encouraged "sea dogs" to attack Spanish ships and raid them!
¨ Francis Drake stole 600,000 lbs. And returned them to Elizabeth. He went through the Strait of Magellan, to San Francisco Bay, across the Pacific and home to Elizabeth! She immediately knighted him on his ship! He was the second man, after Magellan, to sail around the world!!!!!!!!
¨ She angered Phillip with this and continued to help the Dutch Protestants revolt as well!
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588!!!!!!!!
¨ In 1588, Phillip II had a formidable navy with 130 ships, 8000 sailors and 20,000 soldiers.
¨ There were orders to rendezvous with a Duke of Parma (Netherlands) ship and invade England but the Dutch prevented it! (Remember who was helping the Dutch Protestants??!!)
¨ The Spanish had larger ships with cannons and the hopes of getting close in order to inflict damage, then board and fight hand to hand!
¨ The English knew of these ships and developed small fast ships with long-range cannons.
¨ For one week they fought with no one victory for either side!
¨ Since the Spanish were in a tight crescent formation England knew to win they would have to break the crescent.
¨ Drake and Lord Howard tried a daring plan! Send 8 unmanned ships on fire into the Spanish Armada! It worked because of favorable winds!
¨ Now the fast English navy took advantage of their disorganization and began to inflict serious damage!
¨ A sudden storm developed and both sides had to scatter. The remaining Spanish aborted the mission and returned home with only 67 ships!!!
Results of the Defeat of the Spanish Armada:
1. Defeat showed Spain's decline politically.
2. Catholics suffered a set back = Protestant Victory.
3. English power increased and focus on the New World.
4. National pride sparked the Elizabethan Age.
5. England was preserved from foreign invasion by this great victory!
Financial Problems for Elizabeth and England
¨ Elizabeth had serious financial trouble to support her troops and country.
¨ She focused on the colonies for money but who could afford such a venture???
¨ Joint-stock companies emerged (Drake's adventure was one!)
¨ The Commercial Revolution of the Netherlands had spread to England.
¨ In 1600, British East India Company (101 owners to get a piece of the spice trade), 200 lbs. to invest, 3 years later the voyage returns and the company was so successful and riches were huge!!!!!!!!!
¨ England was significantly strengthened economically.
¨ The monarchs' constant need for money would significantly conflict relations with Parliament.
Parliament under Elizabeth's Rule
¨ Her religious compromise was not working anymore. Puritans were unsatisfied.
¨ Elizabeth felt the Church of England was HER business.
¨ Her successor, James I, would have trouble with Parliament because of Elizabeth's strong temperament of control!!!!!!
Elizabethan Age
¨ London at the time of Elizabeth was a hustle bustle city! Be sure to read the City Tour to get the details!
¨Shakespeare
¨ Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 and he was not known at all! (died in 1616)
¨ At 18 he married Anne Hathaway and had three children.
¨ By 1592 they lived in London and now he began to show his ability as a genius poet and playwright. (Actor too!)
¨ His written word was characterized by a man that said: "He was not of an age, but for all time."
¨ Elizabeth and James both loved him!
¨The Theater of England
¨ In1576, James Burbage built the first playhouse.
¨ Afternoon shows were a huge success!
¨ In 1599, Richard and Cuthbert Burbage (sons) built the Globe Theater which seated 2300 people. For a penny you could stand on the ground, for 2-3 pennies you stand under a shelter and the richest sat right on the stage.
Chapter 18, Section 3
English Civil War
· Elizabeth died in 1603 at the age of 69. She left no heir to the throne and the tudor dynasty died with her!
· Her closest relative was James the VI, King of Scotland. He was the only son of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. When Elizabeth died he became the King of England and was then named King James I.
· Scotland and England remained two separate countries for the next 100 years even though they shared the same king.
· James believed that he had the DIVINE RIGHT to rule the throne and that Parliament should NEVER interfere with his agenda.
· Elizabeth exercised more control when addressing Parliament and often won over the Parliament with her tact. James never learned this.
· Elizabeth had left a large national debt even though she had been very frugal with money.
· James believed that he had complete rule of the church and that the Puritans in Parliament should never question him. They still begged for the Catholic overtones to be removed from church services.
· King James was a wonderful scholar and was interested in religion, particularly. He commissioned a committee of Bible scholars to translate the New Testament into English and it was completed in 1611. King James' Bible is still read by millions of people all over the world today!!!!!!!!!!!
· In 1625 James died and left his son Charles to rule the throne. Charles whole-heartedly believed in the divine right. He had a lot of pride and little common sense and he continued throughout his reign to argue with Parliament.
· He went to war with Spain and lost a great deal of money so he was forced to ask Parliament for more.
· Charles misused his power and committed atrocities against his people like:
1. He demanded forced loans from knights and nobles.
2. He imprisoned those who refused to pay.
3. He quartered troops in private homes without permission and at the homeowner's expense.
· By 1628, he was broke again and had to go to Parliament.
· They forced him to sign a document before they gave him any money at all called the Petition of Right.
· There were four major concessions to this document.
1. He would not imprison subjects without due cause.
2. He would not force loans or levy taxes w/o consent of Parliament.
3. He could not quarter soldiers w/o owner's permission.
4. No martial law in peacetime.
· He dissolved Parliament the very next year and did not recall it for 11 years.
· He taxed his people heavily to raise money and he grew very unpopular year after year!
· He appointed William Laud as the archbishop and tried to force the Presbyterians in Scotland to be more like the Church of England.
· Scotland prepared for war with Charles and he now needed money. He had to call Parliament into session and they took that opportunity to pass laws limiting his power.
· He was furious and tried storming Parliament but the leaders had escaped!
· He moved his attentions to North England and raised an army of supporters.
· As he fled to the North the English Civil War was begun!
· Royalists/Cavaliers remained loyal to the King. (English nobles and church leaders)
· Roundheads/Puritans were their enemy.
· The Roundheads with the money of Parliament were able to win even though they were severely outnumbered. They employed the help of Oliver Cromwell.
· He was a country boy who had once been in the House of Commons and He led the zealous Protestants. This army was called the New Model Army.
· There was great destruction and many lives were lost. A great deal of property was destroyed also.
· By 1646, Cromwell had decidedly won. He had even captured King Charles I!
· The army continued to work even though Parliament tried to dissolve it.
· In 1648, Cromwell had physically taken control of the Parliament and expelled the 143 members.
· By 1649, they had brought Charles up on charges of treason and he had been sentenced to an execution. He went with his head held high until it was chopped off in the first public execution of a monarch!
· Cromwell continued to rule as a military dictator for the next few years. He dismissed Parliament and drafted a new Constitution. He ruled as Lord Protector and only thinly disguised his dictatorship by talk of English liberty!
· Many English bitterly resented Cromwell and his dictatorship.
· Even though the Irish had been under England's control began to rebel against Cromwell. He took complete control of Ireland by laying siege to one city and killing all 9000 inhabitants.
· Many Irish were mistreated and killed throughout Cromwell's invasion. It is estimated that over 600,000 Irish were killed by famine and plague between 1641 and 1652.
· Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 and his son Richard took the title of Lord Protector. He had no control like his father and the English, even Puritans, wanted a monarch back in control!!
Chapter 18, Section 4
Tudor & Stuart England
In 1659, Parliament quickly came to session and voted to return the Stuart monarchs to the throne.
The eldest son of Charles I, Charles II, was invited to return to the throne.
He promptly restored the merrymaking that was encouraged during Elizabeth's and James' reigns. The cultural life and events were restored as well as the monarchy in all of its glory.
Charles is called the "merry monarch" and his work to rebuild English society was called the Restoration.
Women were allowed to play women's roles on stage for the first time.
John Milton wrote Paradise Lost to discuss the suffering and pain that Christians/Puritans suffer in justification for God.
He relinquished the old ideas of Divine Right and wanted some semblance of religious freedom for Roman Catholics and Puritans. Parliament opposed this radical idea and the Church of England remained the only legal church.
Charles II and Parliament instituted the Habeas Corpus, which was an important right for all citizens living under any type of government. We use it today in America. It states that no one can be held indefinitely in jail without a trial!
Charles' Catholic tendencies would eventually get him into trouble with Parliament! He also always needed more and more money and the only place to get it was Parliament.
He made a secret agreement with Louis XIV of France. Louis would give him a lump sum of money every year in return for the promise that Charles would one day become a Catholic!
He also had no legitimate heir and his closest relative was his brother, James, who was openly Catholic!
To protect the Protestantism in the nation political parties began to form in order to stop the spread of just a king's ideas.
Two groups formed based on the issue of James' succession. The group that supported him was called Tories ( a nickname for Irish bandits). The group that opposed him was called Whigs ( a Scottish word for assassin!)
These two parties would exist for many years to come in the English political realm. This was the first bipartisan governmental system.
James took the throne in 1685 but immediately angered the English citizens.
1. Ruled by Divine Right and angered his supporters by appointing Catholics to high governmental offices.
2. He dissolved the first Parliament and never called another.
3. 1687, Government jobs could go to Catholics and Protestants.
4. 13,000 Troops were stationed outside of London and many thought that he was going to change the state religion to Catholicism.
5. 1688, he announced the birth of a son by his second wife and many feared that this child would be the second in a long line of Catholic kings! However, he had an older daughter from his first marriage and she was a Protestant and more tolerable to English tastes. Mary was married to William of Orange in the Netherlands and the Whigs and Tories teamed up to help her and William overthrow James!
William and troops landed in 1688 and the head of James' troops l\joined William immediately! James fled to France and lived there in exile until he died! This is known as the Glorious or Bloodless Revolution!
In 1689, William and Mary ruled together as joint sovereigns. They clearly recognized Parliament as the leading partner in ruling England.
A Bill of Rights was instituted in 1689 to limit royal power and protect citizens' rights. William and Mary both consented to these limitations!
1. No suspending of Parliament's laws.
2. No taxes w/o consent of Parliament.
3. No interfering in the freedom of speech of a Member of Parliament.
4. No penalty for citizen's who approach the King about grievances.
5. No standing army in peacetime.
6. No posting of excessive bail in royal courts.
The abuses of monarchs in the 1600s in England as well as the troubles of Parliament sparked two English philosophers to comment on the rights of people oppressed by their government.
1. Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan in 1651 and spoke of the evil ways of all humans. He reasoned that if left to their own devices then they would give "free reign to their evil ways!" He concluded that an absolute monarchy was the best way to rule!
2. John Locke published his ideas in 1690 in his two Treatises on Government. He stated that humans had the natural ability of reason and that they could govern their own affairs and look after the welfare of society. He also stated that it was the responsibility of the rulers to safeguard those natural rights. If they abused their power then the people were justified in rebelling.
3. A young man named Thomas Jefferson would use these exact ideas of Locke to justify the rebellion of the 13 colonies from the English King George in less than one hundred years!!!