Year Twelve.
In the next week or so you will finish studying the content of Unit One – What was the most serious problem that Elizabeth faced at the start of her reign ? You will then of course face the challenge of writing your first proper AS standard essay.
This task is designed to help you to develop two analysis skills that the examiners are looking for when you write – linking and relative importance. There are three stages to the task.
1. Consider the five issues that we have studied.
- Gender.
- Establishing an effective Privy Council.
- The Crown’s finances.
- Foreign Policy.
- What religious settlement should Elizabeth impose ?
Relative importance. Quite simply I want you to pick the one that you think is most important and post a comment here naming it (I will total these up and post the results) and then explaining it.
2. Linking. In the same post try to explain any links that you can see between the issues. Perhaps you might like to reflect if one issue causes another to happen. Is there an underpinning issue.
3. Reflection. When everyone has posted read their comments and reflect on their ideas. What ideas do you want to note down before you write ?
Enjoy…
Mr Kydd.
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Foreign policy. The war with France and the threats from her, France and Scotland meant England (and so Elizabeth) was under threat. It also caused problems with her finances, as the war led to debts. However, it may have helped her, as English Catholics and Protestants were too exhausted to fight over religion, so a compromise would largely be accepted by both groups.
I agree that it foreign policy was a very serious immediate problem. Students often forget to stress that Elizabeth inherits a n unpopular war against France and perhaps an even more unpopular alliance with Spain. England had lost Calias, was indebted and the King of France had troops in Scotland.
I am less sure about your exhaustion argument however. This was the middle of teh Counter reformation, and religious beliefs across Europe seemed to be getting more extreme and deep set. This is for example the start of the rise of the puritans.
I think foreign policy was the most important issue.
The loss of the Spanish alliance and the possibility of an Catholic crusade against the English, caused Elizabeth many problems. The war against France and the Auld Alliance with Scotland also made England look vunerable, to war. The French war led to Mary leaving behind massive debt, with nothing to show for it and the Auld Alliance meant a very unstable north border.
However, Elizabeth smashed up the Auld Aliiance to achieve a stable north border by removing French troops from the area and managed to keep the Spanish threat at bay, for the time being.
Yes – I think the key point made here about foreign policy is that however serious the situation was – the 1559 Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis had the potential to isolate or even destroy the Elizabethan regime before it could get established.
The Crowns Finances. I think that even if England had been united under Protestantism, if Phillip II had landed his Spanish Armada on English land, all Elizabeth’s religious efforts may have been wasted as he would have made England Catholic. By having implemented a new financial exchequer, Elizabeth had £300,000 at her disposal when it came to the Anglo-Spanish war. She could use this stable, financial reserve and fuel her military power by making ships and paying for men and therefore prevail against her adversary, retaining protestantism in England.
I like the link between finances and foreign policy is well made here. Finances might not be a obvious answer, but it was a very real problem for Elizabeth.
Foreign Affairs- simply because it affects many other problems Elizabeth faced. The war with France causes the loss of Calais which then leads to huge financial problems throughout England. The war with Spain, causes pressure to arise from Catholics to marry King Phillip II of Spain and produce a Catholic heir to the throne. Scotland and England were also in conflict as Catholic citizens were backing Mary Queen of Scots to take Elizabeth’s crown. Therefore, foreign affairs was like a domino causing smaller problems to turn larger, creating more issues for Elizabeth to tackle.
A very well constructed argument here. Think again however about what we call a causal relationship between religion and foreign policy. Is it possible (correct) to argue it the other way around ? IE did religion underpin foreign policy problems.
What religious settlement should Elizabeth impose. If Elizabeth could not compromise and secure her own country then she may have been less likely to secure foreign policy and her borders. It could also mean wars within England which would have distracted her from other problems to deal with and worsen finance. Her religious settlement would also determine part of her foreign policy as if she chose to rule as Catholic then England may have continued it’s alliance with strongly Catholic Spain.
Yes – inferred in this is Duffy argument that the Marian counter reformation had achieved much in the period 1552 – 1558. In other words Elizabeth had inherited a broadly Catholic realm outside London and the South East.
What religious settlement Elizabeth should impose. She had to sort out the problem of religion first becuase it would help her to organise other things such as who should be in her privy council, it would also help resolve or bring to a head the problem of foreign affairs depending on which religion she chose. By choosing a religion Elizabeth was securing her country which meant that she could then turn her attention to other problems such as finance and succession, but if she didn’t solve the problem of religion first then there could be wars within England which would make it impossble to concentrate on any of the issues facing her.
Yes – context is helpful here. In 1554 there had been a Protestant rebellion (Wyatt’s rebellion) in Kent against Mary. Equally in 1569 Elizabeth would face a Catholic rebellion known as the Northern Rebellion.
In other words, religious rebellion was a very real domestic issue. This was given energy by Mary, Queen of Scots being the heir to the throne.
To a large extent Religion was the most serious problem Elizabeth faced as it affected and influenced all of the other problems in some way. Although in the short term foreign affairs seems like a more pressing and dangerous issue, it was heightened by the problem of Religion. Both the Hasburgs of Spain and the ruling family of France were catholic, and with England being a protestant country there was fear of both these countries forming an alliance and a ‘Catholic Crusade’ against England. This threat wouldn’t have been so strong if religion wasn’t such a serious issue. Religion also affected the privvy council and who was in it, marriage, gender, sucession and of course foreign affairs. Finance was an issue too, but it didn’t divide a country and cause tension like the problem of religion Elizabeth inherited. Nobody would be completely satissfied with any religious settlement Elizabeth imposed, but this settlement would influence every one of the other problems she faced at the start of her reign, causing them to either worsen or improve. Therefore, ultimately religion and the settlement imposed would determine how sucessful Elizabeth’s reign would be, so it can be considered the most important problem.
Rachel,
I think that this is an excellent post. You really nail the idea of an underpinning factor causing other problems. I have nothing meaningful to add except well done.
Finance:
Effected what Elizabeth could do at the start of her reign, due to the Marion debt
-couldn’t continue to fight a war with France, so the threat of French occupation in Scotland meant she had to find a way to protect England without the cost of arms
– A marriage alliance with Spain would help with this, however, this would raise further religious issues in England, where Elizabeth was attempting to plant a more Protestant way of life, through the acts of uniformity and security
Finance ties together the other problems in Elizabeth’s early reign, and effected her first steps, and how she would behave as a ruler i.e she wouldn’t indulge in luxury as Henry VIII had
Finance never gets the attention that it deserves.
Take for example your point about foreign policy. If Elizabeth continued the war against Valois France then the debt would grow. Equally if she pulled out of the Spanish alliance she would risk English trade in Antwerp (where we sold all out wool – our only major export at the time).
What actually happened of course was that the Spanish and French signed the 1559 treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis and the English were tagged on. This looked very dangerous at the time, but actually worked out well for Elizabeth in the medium term. She could sharply reduce expediture, and thus turn the Marian debt into a surplus by the 1580s. As you will see in Unit 5 however, this was a qualified achievement.
i think that religion is the most importiant reason.
i think this bacuse this issue underpinned lots of the other reasons. for instance the issue of her marrage, it underpinned this beacuse she had to be careful about who she married as if she chose someone who was not the same relgion as her country there would be uproar, this was the case when prince phillip ll proposed (as he was roman catholic)
Yes – the great skill here is to be able to say why it underpinned other issues when you write. You do this here, and at this stage that really is very good.
I believe it was gender.
From day one she would have faced opposition to her rule because of her being female. It would have been very difficult for her to establish herself in the early days of her rule, especially with the disastrous reigns of Mary Edward before her. To her credit she fought her corner emphatically which I believe to be a key reason as to why she is considered one of the most powerful and well respected monarchs to have graced the throne of England.
I am really pleased that someone has gone for gender. In many respects it is harder to quantify than the other factors, but this does not mean that it was not a real issue.
To argue this convincingly however, I think you need to be clear about how it links to other issues.
I think religion was the most important problem Elizabeth faced at the start of her reign. This is because it linked to and affected all the other problems. It linked to the issue of gender because she couldn’t become to Supreme Head of the Church and the Roman Catholics then refused to accept her as Supreme Governor. It also linked to marriage because which religion her husband followed would affect the rule of the country which is why she declined the proposal of Phillip of Spain. This then links to the problem of forgein policy because Elizabeth’s decline of Phillip’s proposal meant that the Spanish alliance was broken which then led to the risk of a Catholic crusade of Hapsburg Spain and Valois France against Protestant England. If Elizabeth had chosen for England to be Catholic then these problems could have been avoided. It also affected who she chose to be in her privy council which was important as she wanted a mix of Protestants and Catholics and this choice was then reflected in her religious settlement. The settlement was a huge issue for securing her realm because she had to keep all of her subjects happy which was impossible as all of them would have a different problem with the settlement. Elizabeth wouldn’t have been able to properly focus on the other issues before she had sorted out the settlement and secured her own country because there might have been disputes within England and this would have distracted her from the other major problems which may have increased the issue of finance.
Although I think religion was the most important problem she faced, overall I think all the problems link to one another and influence each other in difference ways and without each other each individual problem wouldn’t be as bad. For example if there was no war with France the issue of finance wouldn’t be so troubling and without the issue of gender there wouldn’t really even be the issue of marriage. However I think Religion is the underpinning issue that affects all the other problems either directly or indirectly and she needed to sort it out before she could put her full attention on the other problems.
Jess,
This is really special – a sustained line of argument which is already doing many of the skills that are required in your forthcoming essay. Just because religion is perhaps the most obvious answer, it does not mean that it is not the most important.
Your argument here is controlled and justified. First class.
I believe the most important reason was finance.
This was a problem that was due to no fault of her own, as when Mary died in 1558 Elizabeth was the one who was left to reduce the £227,000 debt. This meant that England desperately wanted to stop the war with France, as this was a huge expenditure.
However my doing this Elizabeth risks the alliance between England and Spain and this is important in terms of finance, as England’s main exports went to Antwerp, which was land under Hapsburg control resulting in the possible risk of future trade.
I believe this is the underpinning factor Elizabeth had to weigh up was whether ending the war with France and risking the relationship and possible damage trade with Spain would be the best solution for England at the time. This however links to foreign policies as in 1559, England wanted desperately out of the war with France as it is costing way too much, but in 1562 England take Le Havre to try to negotiate Calais back, showing that in later years Elizabeth had England in a better position in order to defend and look after it self to achieve its aims.
Looking back as a historian we know that Elizabeth was successful at reducing debt, as in 1585 the crown had a cash reserve of £300,000. This was a great achievement for Elizabeth, as she had turned a problem that she faced through no fault of her own into a success.
Well argued.
Elizabeth’s financial concerns certainly made her foreign policy problems more serious. When you study Unit 5 you will see that Elizabeth’s financial legacy, especially her failure to undertake reforms like updating the Marian Book of Rates, is somewhat of a “poisoned chalice” (R Sloan). This often distracts us from her very real early achievements.
The most important issue and biggest problem Elizabeth faced at the start of her reign was religion.
This is because religion links to many of the problems Elizabeth faced in 1558. For example she had a divided nation due to religion, with Protestantism dominant in the South East and London and Catholicism dominant elsewhere. Even outside of domestic matters religion was a problem for Elizabeth, with relations with Catholic France and Spain having to be developed and then kept to a good standard at a time when England could not afford conflict. She would also have to ensure trade (but not dependence) on other countries is existent at a time of financial trouble due to the inherited Marian debt, which would make these difficult to maintain foreign relations even more vital. She would have to satisfy both Catholics in England and abroad despite the fact that she was Protestant, and would have to remain so or be viewed as illegitimate and not able to rule.
In summary not only does religion link to other problems Elizabeth had in 1558, but causes some of them, such as that of foreign relations, thereby making it the most important problem for her at the start of her reign.
Yes – England was certainly divided on religious matters. This is true in geographical terms as you suggest, but even the Houses of Parliament were split.
The Lords was, in the main Catholic, whilst the House of Commons was, in the main, Protestant. The question of which of these caused Elizabeth the most trouble is central to understanding Unit 3. You will need to decide if you agree with Neale’s idea of a “Puritan Choir”.
I think Religion was the most important issue facing Elizabeth because it underpins and links to the other issues (closely followed by foreign policy). Of course, all the issues are important for their own set of reasons but deciding on an effective religious settlement in the time of the counter reformation (and through a period of history rife with instability) would be massively important in determining Elizabeth’s success as queen.
Many of the other problems e.g. finance and establishing an effective privy council could be dealt with reasonably well by a pragmatic, efficient monarch and their carefully chosen advisors. These issues were largely political. Religion however was a lot closer to home and unless the issue of the catholicism / protestantism divide was addressed with the aim of pleasing the majority (compromise) then instability within the borders of her realm would have been a serious problem for Elizabeth. This links to foreign policy; England had inherited a costly war with Valois France and an unpopular alliance with Habsburg Spain. This, coupled with internal problems would combine to make a hugely risky situation for Elizabeth, leaving England vulnerable to threat and in no way secure.
Hard to add much here except that this idea of underpinning is such a useful term in your essay work. Use it in the main body of your answers.
I feel Elizabeth’s gender would have been the greatest issue for her to overcome, as after following a line of female monarchs who are viewed as weak she would have to change this stereotype and restore England’s faith in the monarch. This problem too links in with the problem of religion, as because she was a female Elizabeth could not carry the title of supreme head of the Church of England. It also could link in with the foreign affairs problems she faced as countries may try to take advantage of her as they assume she would be weak like the previous English monarchs.
It is of course hard to quantitfy the importance of gender as an issue. If it is the most serious problem – then she clearly dealt with it very effectively. Even before the Cult of Gloriana was established potentially big issues like being the Supreme Head of the Church were neutralised.
I think a key point here is that womanhood was seen as too weak for monarchy. This was always going to be most serious at the start of Elizabeth’s reign (ie in Unit 1).
Foreign Affairs as it intertwines with the vast majority of the other problems that she faced. Foreign Affairs and Religion are an example of this as due to her sympathies being with the Protestant religion the Catholic countries within Europe would be likely to either attempt to propose marriage to her in order to keep England Catholic after the death of Mary I or they may have united to form a Catholic crusade against England; invading the country and converting it wholly to Catholicism and restoring the power of the Pope.
As well as this Foreign Affairs links with the issues that Elizabeth had with finance, especially in the case of the war with France. Mary had built up a huge debt in being allied with Spain through her marriage to King Phillip II of Spain and dragged into war with France, effectively causing the loss of Calais in the process.
However, although in my opinion Foreign Affairs was the greatest problem facing Elizabeth at the start of her reign it is closely linked with many other problems she faced, for example her gender, and is only the greatest problem she faced by a small margin.
Kirsten,
At this stage this is a very thoughtful answer. This idea of “intertwines” is excellent. When you write your firdt full essay try to get the idea of linking and relative importance embedded in the body of your essay.
I think the most important issue Queen Elizabeth faced in 1558 was religioin.
This is because in the 16th centry religion was an integral part of society and underpined the whole inferstructure in England. Religion had also caused problems for previous tudor monarchs such as Mary and Edward and the English people had suffered as a result of their conrasting religious beliefs.
Religion also links to other problems such as gender. Many people thought it was wrong for a female to be the head of the church. The religion Elizabeth chose to impose would also have implications in regard to her forign afairs as the majority of Europe was Catholicc especially Framce and Spain. Expreesing the fact that Elizabeth was protestant could result in a catholic crusade by France and Spain by England. Or chosing to be Catholic could result in allies being formed or renforced acrosss Europe.
Samuel,
This is a well constucted arguemnt which presents religion as the underpinning factor. Make sure that you put such analysis into the body of your essay (not just your conclusion) when you write.
I believe Foreign Affairs was the most serious challenge for Queen Elizabeth to overcome. It was connected to so many other issues, not because it effected them, but because everything effected it. Every decision Elizabeth made involved her having to weigh up the possible consequences- being which foreign alliance she would lose and which would remain strong. For example, when it came to what religious settlement to enforce she had to tread carefully, not upsetting the Catholic-dominated Spain or throw her deeper into war with France if they opposed her relious choices.
Foreign affairs were also effected by her expectance to marry and possible courtship to Philip of Spain- again another see-saw decision which could effectively topple the balance she held between alliances and the current circumstances with France and the fact that a marital link between Britian and Spain would anger the French more.
At the start of the reign there was much doubt over her rights to succession and whether she was a worthy heir, as the youngest sister of the Tudor family, and as a woman. The threat from Mary Guise over entitlement to the throne greatened the people’s doubts, already arised, of Elizabeths abilities as Monarch and power as a female leader of the country. Therefore Foreign affairs was the most serious problem for the new Queen to face in 1558 due to the ammense pressure from neighbouring alliances about which Religious settlement to enforce, the constant worry of invasion from Spain if she did not marry or went against Catholicism, the current position she held in the war with France and whether future decisions could lead her further into the war zone, or relieve the tension entirely. Last of all, the question hanging over her and the nation, as to whether Scotland’s Mary Guise was infact the rightful Queen of England and maybe a more powerful one too?
Lauren,
A very very complete (and so closely argued) answer. You have clearly thought deeply about it. In picking between religion and foreign affairs as a factor the historian may like to contrast terms. Does it make any difference if we are writing about
Most important
Most immediate
Most serious ?
I would say that religion was the greatest problem. Elizabeth had to deal with a country divided between Catholicism and Protestantism- she had to be careful as to what she did concerning the issue because if she did something that displeased the Pope, she would be excommunicated and the threat of a Catholic crusade was present after Habsburg Spain and Valois France drew up a treaty.
The issue is linked to foreign affairs by the war between France and Spain; once it was over, many Protestants thought there migh be a crusade against England to be rid of them.
It is also linked to finance by how the Marian debt came about by Mary marrying King Phillip of Spain and aiding him in his war against France- a war that was the Habsburgs against the Valois’.
Marriage and succession was linked by how, in the eyes of the Catholic church, Elizabeth was seen as illegitimate as she was only part of the succession to the throne because her father broke from Rome in order to marry her mother. Marriage was key because if she chose to marry a Protestant, the threat of war could actually become a war that she would most likely lose, while if she married the King of Spain, she would lose the support of the Protestants.
Another issue that was linked was her gender- after Mary’s horrific reign that saw 300 Protestants killed, the possibility that Elizabeth could do the same thing but instead with Catholics could have lead to her being forced to abdicate the throne in favour of Mary, Queen of Scots.
I personaly think that religion was her biggest problem, I think this because it impacted elizibeths goverment (house of lords catholic and house of commons protestants) and caused a split amognst the people. She dealt with this well, her religious settlement shows her to be a smart, intelegent monarch who is not opposed to comprimise, she did not take a hardline aproach like her sister before her and this was key in restraining a problem that threatend to be much bigger. I belive that also religion was the biggest problem because it atributed to other problems she had to face, such as foreign policy. the fact that spain was a catholic country meant that breaking ties could lead to war. It also impacted her gender as if she had married prince philip england would have become a catholic country, wich is not what she wanted. Appart from foreign policy, as a whole the other problems elizibeth faced were not as hard to deal with in porportion, her gender would have been hard for people to deal with, but it would not have and didnt stop her becoming queen. Elizibeth also used her genius to turn it into a positive by establishing the “cult of gloriana” and alowing her to “play up to steryotype” when she didnt want to make a decision. also finance would have been, maybe not simple, but not imposible to deal with. However religion was harder to deal with, if she had sidedwith the hardline protestants, the puritains,the catholics would have been anoyed, and vice-verca. elizibeth needed to comprimise and use all her wit to keep everyone happy, hence why the bill changed so many times.
as a whole religion was the biggest problem as it made other problems harder and in my opinion was the biggest problem in itself.
I believe that gender at the very start of Elizabeths reign was a real issue even though it may, in the long term, not be dominating, but the way she handled this issue first off would be incredibly important in the way she established herself to the throne, finding it effected foreign affairs, religion, succession and marriage.
Due to the patriarchal society in the sixteenth century in that male ruled and so it was unwelcoming to fing a woman on the throne, especially since there had only been two female rulers before her ; Queen Matilda and Mary, whos reigns were very unpopular and seen as failures and so Elizabeth was expected to fail. This assumption of weakness would be a terrible burdern on Elizabeth and could have a negative impact on foreign affairs, appearing weak to other countrys and therefore making England more vunerable in terms of power but also as a link to trade. there would be repocussions on the economy and with the economic climate already suffrering this could have serious consequences. Moreover the idea of Elizabeth marrying would seem enivitable for it was seen unnatural for a female ruler to be on her own and it was assumed she would leave a male heir. Who should she marry ? If she married a foreign ruler like Phillip II of Spain he could take her power as a man and therefore take the power of England while also losing alliances with other countries. She would need to be careful with the religion of this marriage candidate also, as this could cause tension and even uprisings of religious groups.
Furthermore, as a woman she was not allowed to be head of the Catholic Church as her father and Brother had been and so could not fully grasp the power on religion with a problem that the Pope could question her legitimacy at any time and disgaurd her as ruler.
However, the way she dealed with these issues were effective and arguably and advantage and so the issue of gender in the long term was not as dominating a problem as religion, foreign affairs and finance.
I think the biggest problem for Elizabeth in 1558 was Region, as it was impossible to please both Protestants and Catholics. Though by not declaring herself to belong to a particular religion Elizabeth handled this matter fairly well, by making herself supreme governor of the church of England. Which meant she had control over the church of England, although her authority over the church of England wasn’t too strong. Religion also links to foreign affairs as Spain is a catholic country and in Mary’s reign the two countries were united together in a war against France which was a major problem for Elizabeth as she didn’t want to start a war. Also Philip of Spain wanted Elizabeth’s hand in marriage which links to the problems of marriage Elizabeth had to face succession also links to this problem as many Catholics saw Elizabeth as illegitimate as after her mother died Elizabeth lost her claim to the throne and many catholic’s wanted Mary Queen of Scott’s on the throne instead wanting her to overrule Elizabeth. so overall I believe Religion was Elizabeth’s biggest problem she had to face in 1558.
I think that the most important issue for Elizabeth in 1558 was religion. She inherited a divided religious society, and this would always cause her problems whatever her Religious Settlement entailed. As a result she faced opposition from both sides of extreme Christians, Puritans and Roman Catholics, because she tried to generalise England’s religion to suit as many people as possible. Although this did gain support from the majority, these two extreme groups were opposed and would be until Elizabeth chose either Protestantism or Catholicism.
Religion also leads to the majority of problems in Elizabeths foreign affairs. The two largest European powers, France and Spain, were both Catholic and this left England in the middle when Elizabeth chose a predominantly Protestant settlement. Consequently this increased the chances of a Catholic Crusade against England, and added to the problems in foreign affairs. France also experienced problems with religion. The counter reformation meant that Elizabeth ended up helping France, and eventually losing Calais. Although this is not as much of a direct link, it also shows how religious problems across Europe contributed to Elizabeths issues at the start of her reign.
However, gender is and underlying problem that makes the start of Elizabeths rule difficult, as she is open to much criticism in a patriarchal society. This means that any decision she makes would be more heavily scrutinised because she is a woman, and people lacked faith in her.
Overall religion is the most predominant issue in 1558, but when underpinned by her gender, the start of Elizabeth’s reign is extremely troubled. This makes it even more surprising when she uses these problems to her advantage, and manages to shape England how she would like.
i think the most important issue that Elizabeth faced was religion. religion linked back to almost all of the other points which meant she had to take it into consideration with almost every decision she wanted to make. for example, even when deciding who to marry, she had to consider the fact that if she married someone who was not the same religion as her (Prince Phillip), it would cause problems for her reign as the country would not be happy with it. this links back to foreign affairs because after declining Prince Phillip, the spanish alliance was broken.
religion also links to gender. because elizabeth was a woman, the church didn’t think it was suitable for her to be ruling the country so the church’s disapproval caused her a few problems, too.
I think Elizabeth’s gender was the most important factor facing her in 1558. Elizabeth’s gender was a problem from the beginning for the people around her and also herself. Being female a lot of foreign powers regarded her as illegitimate.
Being a women, her council saw that she should marry as soon as she could and bring a king to the English throne as being a women they didn’t believe she could do it alone however Elizabeth never did this and used the stereotypical view of women to her advantage of coming across as very indecisive when ever the topic was brought up. Her gender also affected her when it came to religion, she couldn’t follow within her father’s footsteps as Supreme Head of the church and had to settle for Supreme Governor. This then also leads on the foreign affairs, as one of the big problems was Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary and many Catholics believed that she was heir to throne and what made things dangerous for Elizabeth was Mary could call in assistance from the powerful catholic monarchs of France and Spain to help her take the throne which, linking it back to gender, they may accept to help as they may believe Elizabeth would be to weak to fight as she is a women and war was seen as a mans role and she was already at war with France because of previous affairs with Mary, Elizabeth’s half sister.