Consolidation:
Named in the 1544 Succession Act.
1554: Imprisoned in the Tower of London for suspected involvement
in the Wyatt rebellion.
Became queen in 1558 after Mary I’s death.
Government:
Privy Council:
o Small, efficient.
o Included Cecil, Dudley, and Walsingham.
o 11 men by 1597, mainly Protestant.
Court used patronage to controls nobles, and used very little as they
realised it was most valued when not given out freely.
o Elizabeth only granted 18 peerages in her reign.
Factional rivalry existed, e.g. Cecil vs. Leicester, but rarely impacted
the government.
Use of JPs increased as the administered the Poor Laws, about 50
per county.
Parliament:
o Used for finances and legislation.
483 acts passed in her reign.
o Puritan Choir: An influential Protestant movement within
Parliament.
o Conflict over the succession in 1566, MPs questioning
Elizabeth angered her.
Religion:
1559 Religious Settlement:
o Act of Supremacy:
Elizabeth named Supreme Governor of the Church.
Rejected Papal supremacy.
Repealed heresy laws.