Elizabeth Practise Questions:
Q1) Write an account of the problems Elizabeth faced during the first 10 years of her reign.
At the beginning of her reign Elizabeth faced problems straight away. This was because of
her father’s marriage to Anne Boleyn her mother was often considered invalid and that she
was born out of an illegitimate marriage. This made many Catholics upset and turned them
against her before she even truly became a queen. Whilst this was out of her control, many
people believed that as a result she should have no right over the throne, and this meant
that they preferred to have Mary Queen of Scots to rule instead of her. This was a significant
threat to Elizabeth at the beginning of her reign because it meant that later during her reign
many Catholics would be easily influenced to try and rebel against her after the pope
excommunicated her in 1570. This initial distaste for Elizabeth meant that people could
easily be turned against her later in her reign which immediately put her in a dangerous
position.
Furthermore, during the first 10 years of Elizabeth’s reign, her advisors in the privy council
were desperate for her to get married so that she could have a suitable heir to the throne
and there would be less of a risk for the Catholics Mary Queen of Scots being queen. As a
result, there were often heated debates about who she should marry and this even led to
Peter Wentworth, a once trusted member of her council, to be arrested since she had
banned them from talking about her personal affairs and yet he disobeyed. This was
significant since it occurred early on in her reign so it reinstated her position with her
advisors, proving to them that whilst they could help her and tell her their opinions, she was
queen, and she would always have the final say and therefore it showed them where they
stood and how much control they really had over her.
Q2) Explain what was important about the privy council.
The Privy council was quite important in Elizabethan England because during Elizabeth’s
early reign, she was very inexperienced, and so when problems started to arise almost
immediately, they could help her deal with them since they had more experience. For
example, when Mary Queen of scots arrived in England the privy council immediately
recognised the danger of having a possible catholic heir to the throne with a religiously
divided country. Whilst Elizabeth’s religious settlement currently pleased everyone, many of
her privy council advisors feared that Elizabeth needed to get rid of Mary in order to
eliminate the risk of future rebellions. For example, Dudley advised Elizabeth to execute
Mary as soon as possible, however as Elizabeth was still young, she did not see the
immediate danger. The privy council was imperative in making sure Elizabeth took the right
decision and convincing her that killing Mary was the best thing to do for England and
herself. Elizabeth’s trust in them especially during the beginning of her reign allowed her to
have a smooth start to her reign to get her people to trust her.
Another reason why the privy council was vital during the Elizabethan times was because
they were largely involved in foreign policy. One such example was when Elizabeth was
asked assistance of by the Dutch who were being controlled by the Spanish king Phillip. They
required her supplies and because they were a protestant society Elizabeth could have
helped them escape their catholic Spanish invaders. However, Elizabeth was very unsure of
, what to do and as a result, her privy council was needed in order to help her make the
correct decision. However, because of her divided council with Dudley arguing to help the
Dutch and lord Cecil arguing to stay more cautious it took Elizabeth 7 years before she
decided to help the Dutch. This shows how significant the privy council is since they hold
such power over Elizabeth’s decisions making it impossible for her to decide when they are
divided, and since they were often nobles or men in power, it was often in Elizabeth’s best
interests to listen to them, giving them more power than even the government.
Q3) Explain what was important about Elizabeth’s decision regarding her marriage.
Throughout Elizabeth’s reign, she made the conscious decision not to marry for many
reasons. One reason why was because Elizabeth had to think about if she wanted to marry
someone from England or abroad. By marrying someone from England, it would probably
have to be a noble such as Robert Dudley she would have to think about the consequences
of losing loyalty from other nobles in high power who would feel that she chose him over
them and that she intentionally gave him more power. On the other hand, if she married
someone from abroad, she could immediately improve relations with possible threats. The
most obvious choice here would have been King Phillip of Spain, since Spain had one of the
largest empires and was doing very well in terms of trading and would of course improve
England’s economy and reputation with other countries. However, if she did this, she could
never be sure that her husband would not disregard her country entirely and only focus on
his, or if he would try and control both countries and take power away from her. By avoiding
both situations she left herself with power over England as well as keeping her loyalty with
her nobles and advisors. This was very significant later in her career because her people felt
a greater need to serve her since she did not upset any of them, however it also meant that
England’s feud with Spain was fuelled which ultimately was a long-term cause for their war
together.
Another reason why Elizabeth’s decision as important was because it meant that she was
left with no heir. Her privy council was very concerned with this at the beginning of her
reign and urged her to marry since they saw the potential danger if she did not, however
Elizabeth ignored them and in fact demanded that they keep out of her personal affairs.
This, however, meant that other rulers such as Mary Queen of Scots became more
dangerous. This was extremely worrying for both Elizabeth and her people because she was
a catholic queen and when Elizabeth almost dies of smallpox in the 1560’s this became
almost realty, however most of England and her privy council was protestant and so this
was very undesirable for them. It also fuelled devout Catholics to begin to plot against her
since they knew that if they captured and killed Elizabeth, they would be able to have
Catholic queen and so it gave them an opportunity to do so. By not getting marries Elizabeth
left an opportunity for a catholic queen to inherit the throne since she did not provide a
suitable heir.
Q4) Write an account of the career of the earl of Essex.
In the early career of the earl of Essex he was considered a favourite of the queen and she
made him a privy councillor as a result. Then later he won the Queen’s respect even more
when he succeeded with the Spanish in 1596. In the eyes of the queen, he became a hero
Q1) Write an account of the problems Elizabeth faced during the first 10 years of her reign.
At the beginning of her reign Elizabeth faced problems straight away. This was because of
her father’s marriage to Anne Boleyn her mother was often considered invalid and that she
was born out of an illegitimate marriage. This made many Catholics upset and turned them
against her before she even truly became a queen. Whilst this was out of her control, many
people believed that as a result she should have no right over the throne, and this meant
that they preferred to have Mary Queen of Scots to rule instead of her. This was a significant
threat to Elizabeth at the beginning of her reign because it meant that later during her reign
many Catholics would be easily influenced to try and rebel against her after the pope
excommunicated her in 1570. This initial distaste for Elizabeth meant that people could
easily be turned against her later in her reign which immediately put her in a dangerous
position.
Furthermore, during the first 10 years of Elizabeth’s reign, her advisors in the privy council
were desperate for her to get married so that she could have a suitable heir to the throne
and there would be less of a risk for the Catholics Mary Queen of Scots being queen. As a
result, there were often heated debates about who she should marry and this even led to
Peter Wentworth, a once trusted member of her council, to be arrested since she had
banned them from talking about her personal affairs and yet he disobeyed. This was
significant since it occurred early on in her reign so it reinstated her position with her
advisors, proving to them that whilst they could help her and tell her their opinions, she was
queen, and she would always have the final say and therefore it showed them where they
stood and how much control they really had over her.
Q2) Explain what was important about the privy council.
The Privy council was quite important in Elizabethan England because during Elizabeth’s
early reign, she was very inexperienced, and so when problems started to arise almost
immediately, they could help her deal with them since they had more experience. For
example, when Mary Queen of scots arrived in England the privy council immediately
recognised the danger of having a possible catholic heir to the throne with a religiously
divided country. Whilst Elizabeth’s religious settlement currently pleased everyone, many of
her privy council advisors feared that Elizabeth needed to get rid of Mary in order to
eliminate the risk of future rebellions. For example, Dudley advised Elizabeth to execute
Mary as soon as possible, however as Elizabeth was still young, she did not see the
immediate danger. The privy council was imperative in making sure Elizabeth took the right
decision and convincing her that killing Mary was the best thing to do for England and
herself. Elizabeth’s trust in them especially during the beginning of her reign allowed her to
have a smooth start to her reign to get her people to trust her.
Another reason why the privy council was vital during the Elizabethan times was because
they were largely involved in foreign policy. One such example was when Elizabeth was
asked assistance of by the Dutch who were being controlled by the Spanish king Phillip. They
required her supplies and because they were a protestant society Elizabeth could have
helped them escape their catholic Spanish invaders. However, Elizabeth was very unsure of
, what to do and as a result, her privy council was needed in order to help her make the
correct decision. However, because of her divided council with Dudley arguing to help the
Dutch and lord Cecil arguing to stay more cautious it took Elizabeth 7 years before she
decided to help the Dutch. This shows how significant the privy council is since they hold
such power over Elizabeth’s decisions making it impossible for her to decide when they are
divided, and since they were often nobles or men in power, it was often in Elizabeth’s best
interests to listen to them, giving them more power than even the government.
Q3) Explain what was important about Elizabeth’s decision regarding her marriage.
Throughout Elizabeth’s reign, she made the conscious decision not to marry for many
reasons. One reason why was because Elizabeth had to think about if she wanted to marry
someone from England or abroad. By marrying someone from England, it would probably
have to be a noble such as Robert Dudley she would have to think about the consequences
of losing loyalty from other nobles in high power who would feel that she chose him over
them and that she intentionally gave him more power. On the other hand, if she married
someone from abroad, she could immediately improve relations with possible threats. The
most obvious choice here would have been King Phillip of Spain, since Spain had one of the
largest empires and was doing very well in terms of trading and would of course improve
England’s economy and reputation with other countries. However, if she did this, she could
never be sure that her husband would not disregard her country entirely and only focus on
his, or if he would try and control both countries and take power away from her. By avoiding
both situations she left herself with power over England as well as keeping her loyalty with
her nobles and advisors. This was very significant later in her career because her people felt
a greater need to serve her since she did not upset any of them, however it also meant that
England’s feud with Spain was fuelled which ultimately was a long-term cause for their war
together.
Another reason why Elizabeth’s decision as important was because it meant that she was
left with no heir. Her privy council was very concerned with this at the beginning of her
reign and urged her to marry since they saw the potential danger if she did not, however
Elizabeth ignored them and in fact demanded that they keep out of her personal affairs.
This, however, meant that other rulers such as Mary Queen of Scots became more
dangerous. This was extremely worrying for both Elizabeth and her people because she was
a catholic queen and when Elizabeth almost dies of smallpox in the 1560’s this became
almost realty, however most of England and her privy council was protestant and so this
was very undesirable for them. It also fuelled devout Catholics to begin to plot against her
since they knew that if they captured and killed Elizabeth, they would be able to have
Catholic queen and so it gave them an opportunity to do so. By not getting marries Elizabeth
left an opportunity for a catholic queen to inherit the throne since she did not provide a
suitable heir.
Q4) Write an account of the career of the earl of Essex.
In the early career of the earl of Essex he was considered a favourite of the queen and she
made him a privy councillor as a result. Then later he won the Queen’s respect even more
when he succeeded with the Spanish in 1596. In the eyes of the queen, he became a hero
