1. GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT
1.1. CHIEF MINISTERS
1.1.1. Elizabeth heavily relied on several key ministers.
1.1.1.1. ROBERT CECIL
1.1.1.1.1. He was also known as Baron Burleigh or Lord Burghley.
1.1.1.1.2. William Cecil's son.
1.1.1.1.3. 1599 - He led the Privy Council and ensured the smooth succession of James VI.
1.1.1.2. WILLIAM CECIL
1.1.1.2.1. He was the closest to a friend the queen would ever have.
1.1.1.2.2. Secretary of State and Lord High Exchequer.
1.1.1.3. ROBERT DUDLEY
1.1.1.3.1. Earl of Leicester
1.1.1.3.2. He was more pro-war and very flamboyant and did go off to fight in the Netherlands.
1.1.1.3.3. Elizabeth was said to be emotionally dependant upon him.
1.1.1.4. ROBERT DEVEREUX
1.1.1.4.1. Robert Dudley's stepson.
1.1.1.4.2. He led several military expeditions against the Spanish and the Irish.
1.1.1.4.3. 1601 - He was executed after he rebelled against the queen.
1.2. OTHER GOVERNMENT
1.2.1. PARLIAMENT
1.2.1.1. Conflicts with Elizabeth over issues such as religion, marriage, and monopoly licenses.
1.2.1.2. More and more gentry class Puritans started to get admitted to Parliament from the boroughs.
1.2.1.3. Local Government continued with Justices of the Peace and militias being raised in the shired to put down rebellions.
1.2.2. THE PRIVY COUNCIL
1.2.2.1. They were responsible for the general administration of the country.
2. REBELLIONS AND PLOTS
2.1. Plots often aimed at removing Elizabeth from power and replacing her with Mary; most of these were motivated by religious belief.
2.1.1. 1561 - RIDOLFI PLOT
2.1.1.1. Ridolfi was convinced that the only way to overthrow Elizabeth was through a combination of uprising and intervention abroad. He then intended that Elizabeth should be killed and replaced by Mary, Queen of Scots.
2.1.2. 1583 - THROCKMORTON PLOT
2.1.2.1. It was a plan to utilize French and Spanish troops to oust Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was devised by Francis and Thomas Throckmorton together with agents from Spain. Nevertheless, English spies uncovered the plot and arrested them.
2.1.3. 1586 - THE BABINGTON PLOT
2.1.3.1. Anthony Babington was a member of the Catholic gentry. He was approached by a Jesuit priest, John Ballard, to be part of the conspiracy. Once again, the plot was for English Catholics to overthrow Elizabeth and replace her with Mary.
2.1.4. THE DESMOND REBELLIONS (1569-73 and 1579-83)
2.1.4.1. They were two episodes of war when the English state (under Elizabeth rule) tried to extend its authority to Munster and clashed with the existing power.
2.1.4.2. The wars were in equal parts: an aristocratic revolt against central authority, a religious war by Catholics against Protestants, and resistance from various segments of Irish society to the imposition of an alien English social and political order.
2.1.5. THE NINE YEARS’ WAR
2.1.5.1. It took place in Ireland from 1593 to 1603. It was fought between an Irish alliance against English rule in Ireland and was a response to the ongoing Tudor conquest of Ireland at the time.
2.1.5.2. This war ended with the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603.
3. RELIGIOUS POLICY
3.1. RELIGIOUS SETTLEMENT (1559)
3.1.1. PEOPLE WERE DIVIDED BY RELIGION
3.1.1.1. Catholics
3.1.1.2. Protestants
3.1.1.3. Puritans
3.1.2. THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH IN ENGLAND
3.1.2.1. Elizabeth wanted to bring together these groups and ease religious tension. In 1559 she passed two laws:
3.1.2.1.1. The 1559 Act of Supremacy
3.1.2.1.2. The 1559 Act of Uniformity
3.2. RELIGIOUS DIVISIONS
3.2.1. CATHOLIC THREATS
3.2.1.1. Many Catholics wanted Mary Queen of Scots to be the ruler of England.
3.2.2. The relationship with Spain started to deteriorate as stricter anti-Catholic laws were passed in Parliament.
3.2.3. Several Protestant Puritants wanted a religious reform.
4. FOREIGN POLICY
4.1. RELATIONS WITH SPAIN
4.1.1. At first, she started as an ally to Spain thanks to Mary's foreign policy against the French.
4.1.2. 1571 - RIDOLFI PLOT
4.1.2.1. The attempt to have Queen Elizabeth killed soured relations between England and Spain.
4.1.3. 1585 - TREATY OF NONSUCH
4.1.3.1. The Earl of Leicester was sent to the Netherlands to provide a military force to the Dutch rebels that would help fight the Spanish.
4.1.4. 1588 - THE SPANISH ARMADA
4.1.4.1. The Spanish (King Philip of Spain) sent an Armada to invade England, but it was defeated in the English Channel.
4.1.5. The struggles between England and Spain continued for the rest of Elizabeth's reign.
4.2. RELATIONS WITH FRANCE
4.2.1. There was a war between England and France because of Mary's foreign policy with the Spanish In against the French.
4.2.1.1. It ensured an end to the hostilities and replaced the Auld Alliance of the French and the Scots with an Anglo-Scots one.
4.2.2. 1560 - THE TREATY OF EDINBURGH
4.2.3. 1562 - RELIGIOUS WARS
4.2.3.1. Civil war between Catholics and Protestants broke out in France in 1562 and lasted until 1598.
4.2.3.2. Elizabeth supported the Huguenots in the Treaty of Hampton Court sending troops to Le Havre, but the French turned on her, which caused this policy to fail.
4.2.4. 1564 - TREATY OF TROYES
4.2.4.1. It recognized French ownership of Calais in return of France's payment to England.
4.2.5. 1572 - ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE
4.2.6. 1584 - TREATY OF JOINVILLE
4.2.6.1. It was a secret treaty signed by Philip II of Spain and the French Catholic League which planned to end Protestantism in Europe.
4.2.6.2. This was considered a huge threat if the Spanish and the French got together to attack the English.
4.3. RELATIONS WITH SCOTLAND
4.3.1. 1560 - TREATY OF BERWICK
4.3.1.1. French troops were sent to Scotland to put down a Protestant revolt. However, Elizabeth intervened and sent troops to help the Scottish Protestants win.
4.3.2. MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
4.3.2.1. She fled to England seven years after returning to Scotland and was immediately imprisoned.
4.3.2.2. 1586 - Mary is executed after the queen discovered that she was involved in the Babington Plot.
4.3.3. 1586 - SECOND TREATY OF BERWICK
4.3.3.1. King James VI was a Protestant so it created better relations between England and Scotland. For this reason, a Protestant defensive pact between James and Elizabeth was made.