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Summary Full notes from Pearson Edexcel history course
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Full notes from Pearson Edexcel history course, each topic is separated and bullet pointed. Key dates are included.
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GCSE Edexcel History Elizabethan England Revision Booklet
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The Situation on Elizabeth’s AccessionSociety and Government in 1558
Society
• The monarch was at the top of the social scale and was the most important member of the nobility, who
were followed by the gentry and then the yeomen, who held a small amount of land, and tenant farmers
who rented land from gentry or yeomen
• About 90% of England’s population lived and worked in the countryside
• In towns hierarchy was based on wealth and occupation: wealthy merchants, professionals
(lawyers/doctors), skilled craftsmen (organised into guilds – trade associations to monitor standards),
craftsmen (skilled employees) and unskilled labourers - in that order - made up the hierarchy
Government
• Court – people who lived in/near palace of the queen, mostly nobility, monarch’s advisors, servants and
friends, attending court required monarch’s permission. Courtiers had influence with the monarch
• Privy Council – leading courtiers and advisors, nobles, and senior government officials e.g., William Cecil, 19
members chosen by monarch, met at least three times a week usually with monarch, oversaw law and order,
monitored JPs and parliament
• Parliament – House of Lords (included bishops) and House of Commons, could only be called and dismissed
by monarch, Elizabeth called on Parliament 10 times during her reign, granted extraordinary taxation (extra
tax), passed Acts that could be enforced so policies were given to Parliament to be approved
• Lords Lieutenant – One in each county, chosen by monarch, members of nobility and usually Privy Council, in
charge of training local militia, part of local government
• Justices of the Peace – large landowners who kept law and order in their local areas, unpaid and reported to
Privy Council, position of status
Monarch
• Had divine right from God, anointed. Elizabeth took the throne November 1558
• Could declare war and make peace, call and dismiss parliament and agree/reject any laws they voted for,
rule in some legal cases, grant titles, land, money and jobs
• To provide someone with an important job or position is known as patronage, the queen was the ultimate
patron, e.g. to many explorers
• Could issue direct orders – proclamation but could not be enforced in law courts
• Has royal prerogative, areas where only the monarch has the right to decide upon, e.g., foreign policy,
marriage, succession
The Secretary of State
• The most important Privy Councillor, advised on matters important to the Crown, most significant person to
hold the position was Sir William Cecil, promoted to Lord Burghley in 1571, held position to 1573
Legitimacy and Gender
• Elizabeth’s legitimacy in doubt because Henry VIII’s divorce wasn’t granted by the head of the Roman
Catholic Church, so Henry created the Church of England – some roman Catholics didn’t accept the divorce
so saw Elizabeth as illegitimate
• In 1536, after Boleyn’s execution, Henry declared her illegitimate but later reversed the decision
, • Furthermore, Mary’s reign had not been successful, England had allied with Spain and lost a war against
France, the burning of 300 Protestants had been unpopular, her marriage to Philip II had caused riots
Challenges at home and from abroad
Financial Weakness
• Monarchs could raise money from rents and income from their own lands, taxes from trade known as
customs duties, additional taxes known as subsidies which had to be agreed by parliament, profits of justice
(fines or property/lands from criminals) and loans
• Upon accession, England was £300,000 in debt in 1558, while annual income was £286, 667 at the time and
Elizabeth did not want to rely on parliament for taxes
The French Threat
• France was wealthier and had a larger population
• Allied with Scotland as part of the Auld Alliance
• Mary QoS became queen of France in 1559 with her husband King Francis II
• 1558 – Mary of Guise was ruling Scotland for her daughter and had troops there, strengthening the QoS
threat as a Catholic monarch
• England had held the French port of Calais since 1347, an important trading post and military base in France
• The end of the war in the 1550s ended with the 1559 Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, meaning Calais was
returned to France, and Elizabeth wanted Calais back
The Settlement of Religion
The English Reformation
• The Reformation began as many believed the Roman Catholic Church had become corrupt, meaning some
people, Protestants abandoned the Roman Catholic Church
• The English Reformation began in 1532 when Henry VIII created the Church of England, by 1589 the
reformation had started to heighten religious tensions
• Protestantism differed in many ways: no pope, not necessary to have cardinals, archbishops or bishops, the
Bible and services were in your own language, sins were forgiven by God only, the bread and wine were only
representations, priests did not have vestments, churches were plain and simple, the only two sacraments
were baptism and Holy Communion, priests could marry
• Due to many Catholic bishops in the House of Lords, Elizabeth wanted a settlement
• Geographical divisions: the north of England, near Scotland, and along the west coast were strongly Catholic,
while the region around London and the south-west were mainly Protestant
• Due to Mary burning 300 Protestants, many had fled and returned as more devout Puritans who did not
believe in the monarch being the head of the Church
Acts of the Settlement
• Settled in 1559, comprised of three acts
• Act of Supremacy – made Elizabeth supreme governor of the church, all clergy and royal officials had to
swear an oath of allegiance, the Acts was an Ecclesiastical High Commission and aimed to maintain discipline
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