Elizabeth I & Court (OCR GCSE History B (Schools History Project)): Revision Note

Summary

In Elizabethan England, power, wealth and influence were mostly inherited. However, who filled the most important positions in England was decided by the Queen. This system was known as patronage and she selected her favourites from the people who travelled with her and surrounded her - known as the Royal Court. The most influential of these people were appointed to the Privy Council, which was headed by the Secretary of State - Elizabeth's most trusted and influential advisor.

Patronage

• Elizabethan society was structured in a strict hierarchy where everyone knew their place

• The system depended on giving and receiving

  • Those at the bottom of the hierarchy respected those at the top

  • The richer people in society needed the workers' services

    • They paid the workers

• The hierarchy enforced law and order

  • There were many more people at the bottom of the hierarchy than at the top

  • The people at the top needed to use their power and influence to maintain law and order

    • Over 90% of the population lived in the countryside

    • This was furthest away from the monarch's influence

    • The monarch depended upon the hierarchy in the countryside to maintain control over the masses

• A person's place in the hierarchy depended on the family they were born into, rather than talent or ability

  • People in the 16th century did not believe in social mobility or equality

• At the very top of society, those with good personal relations with the Queen were more likely to be appointed to important roles

  • The Queen appointed whoever she wanted to help her rule

  • Those who pleased the Queen might find themselves being given positions of great power and prestige

  • Those who displeased the Queen may be stripped of all wealth, power and influence

• This system of the monarch being able to appoint and remove whoever they wanted is known as patronage

The Royal Court

• The Royal Court was the name given to the group of nobles and gentry whom the Queen most favoured

  • They followed the Queen and gathered wherever she was staying

  • They provided her with company and entertainment

  • Elizabeth frequently moved between her many palaces and the court would move with her

  • Those most favoured were given rooms in the palace and others found lodgings nearby

  • Members of the court were known as courtiers

The Privy Council

• This was made up from Elizabeth's closest and most trusted courtiers

• It had around 19 members

• They met with the monarch three times a week to:

  • Give the monarch advice on key decisions

  • Enact the monarch's wishes

  • Monitor the other government organisations

• The Privy Council lived and worked in the royal court

Secretaries of State

• The most important member of the Privy Council was the Secretary of State

  • Elizabeth had two significant Secretaries of State during her reign

    • Sir Francis Walsingham

    • William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

Rebellion of Lord Essex

• Robert Devereux was a courtier who benefited greatly from Elizabeth's patronage

  • However, when he displeased the Queen, it cost him his wealth, position and eventually his life