Explain what was important about Queen Elizabeth’s Progresses (8 marks)
During the summer period, Elizabeth and her court would travel all over the country on
tours called progresses. Progresses were royal tours which would visit various home of the
nobility across England. Many of her subjects, this was the only occasion that they could see
Queen Elizabeth. Her journeys ranged from the South East, Midlands and East Anglia. The
Queen and her court were accompanied by 400 wagons stacked with clothes, linen and
even her own bed. Elizabeth’s servants, guards and equerries travelled in front of her.
Whilst her counsellors and her maids of honour were just behind her. Wherever she went,
the Queen was always greeted with an extremely warm welcome.
One of the main reasons that progresses were importance was because they were seen as
‘major public relations exercises’. This enabled Elizabeth to see her subjects regularly, build
close relationships with them and flatter the nobles that she decided to stay with. This
would be beneficial for the Queen as the nobles she stayed with would support her policies
and would be very unlikely to revolt against her. Additionally, to the nobles, the Queen
would appear as a God-like figure as many Elizabethans believed in the Great Chain of
Being. Her popularity generated loyalty and obedience from officials.
Moreover, progresses also served a more practical purpose for Queen Elizabeth and helped
ensure that she was a wealthy and powerful monarch. The progresses allowed Elizabeth to
stay in luxurious accommodation at the expense of her subjects. The nobility desperately
wanted to impress Elizabeth with their extravagance in providing the Queen and her
courtiers with not just food but accommodation and entertainment in exchange for a
knighthood. The Queen did not totally neglect her royal duties whilst on her progresses. She
knighted many men and saw many ill people who she touched in order to heal them. In the
Elizabethan era, it was believed that the monarch had special healing powers. Progresses
were a way of ensuring loyalty from members of the nobility and different Lords and Ladies.
During the summer period, Elizabeth and her court would travel all over the country on
tours called progresses. Progresses were royal tours which would visit various home of the
nobility across England. Many of her subjects, this was the only occasion that they could see
Queen Elizabeth. Her journeys ranged from the South East, Midlands and East Anglia. The
Queen and her court were accompanied by 400 wagons stacked with clothes, linen and
even her own bed. Elizabeth’s servants, guards and equerries travelled in front of her.
Whilst her counsellors and her maids of honour were just behind her. Wherever she went,
the Queen was always greeted with an extremely warm welcome.
One of the main reasons that progresses were importance was because they were seen as
‘major public relations exercises’. This enabled Elizabeth to see her subjects regularly, build
close relationships with them and flatter the nobles that she decided to stay with. This
would be beneficial for the Queen as the nobles she stayed with would support her policies
and would be very unlikely to revolt against her. Additionally, to the nobles, the Queen
would appear as a God-like figure as many Elizabethans believed in the Great Chain of
Being. Her popularity generated loyalty and obedience from officials.
Moreover, progresses also served a more practical purpose for Queen Elizabeth and helped
ensure that she was a wealthy and powerful monarch. The progresses allowed Elizabeth to
stay in luxurious accommodation at the expense of her subjects. The nobility desperately
wanted to impress Elizabeth with their extravagance in providing the Queen and her
courtiers with not just food but accommodation and entertainment in exchange for a
knighthood. The Queen did not totally neglect her royal duties whilst on her progresses. She
knighted many men and saw many ill people who she touched in order to heal them. In the
Elizabethan era, it was believed that the monarch had special healing powers. Progresses
were a way of ensuring loyalty from members of the nobility and different Lords and Ladies.
